What is the future of rural Canada? This was the focus of the State of Rural Canada webinar hosted by the Rural Policy Learning Commons on September 20, 2016. Drs. Al Lauzon and Ryan Gibson served as panellists on the webinar, both presenting research from the report. The webinar brought together over 70 participants from across Canada! 

The webinar focused on the recently released State of Rural Canada book [1].  The State of Rural Canada was released in the fall 2015 and articulates that rural Canada is important to the country. Rural areas are the sites of food production, resource extraction, energy generation, clean water and air, and future carbon sequestration. In other words, rural Canada is a site of significant economic activity, job creation, environmental stewardship, and social/cultural production. The webinar provided an opportunity to understand the similarities and differences among provincial and territorial rural development strategies. 

If you missed the webinar you can watch it on demand through Youtube at http://ow.ly/BBcs304rHAV. 

Dr. Lauzon is the acting Director of the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development and Dr. Gibson is the Libro Professor of Regional Economic Development in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development. For more information on the State of Rural Canada report visit www.sorc.crrf.ca.