Reading Time: < 1 minute Rural Albertans have fewer neighbours than they did six years ago. And if you’re wondering where they went, you might want to check out Airdrie and Cochrane as well as the province’s big cities. That’s — sort of — the upshot from recently released census data. Rural Canada actually gained nearly 27,000 new residents from […] Read more
Rural population inches up in latest census, but not in Alberta
EU countries approve deal to overhaul farming subsidies
Subsidies to focus on sustainability, 'eco-schemes'
Brussels | Reuters — European Union countries on Monday gave the green light to reforms of the bloc’s huge farming subsidy program, after a three-year battle over rules to make it greener and support smaller farms. Negotiators representing the EU’s 27 countries and European Parliament struck the deal on Friday to reform the Common Agricultural […] Read more
Pandemic may strain rural community resources, panel warns
Enthusiasm for telecommuting could later benefit rural areas, if 'digital divide' can be bridged
The COVID-19 pandemic, and Canada’s response to it, have highlighted how rural communities need different strategies than their urban counterparts to provide social services on which the public relies. The Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph hosted a virtual panel in May to discuss COVID-19’s social impacts, in which researchers from a variety […] Read more
Rural development strategy sought in federal shuffle
Rural economic development has been given a promotion at the federal level in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s latest cabinet shuffle. In the shuffle, following the departure of Treasury Board president Scott Brison from cabinet, Trudeau on Monday called up Bernadette Jordan, MP for the southern Nova Scotia riding of South Shore-St.Margaret’s, to head a newly […] Read more
U.S. House clears farm bill, with major food stamps changes
Washington | Reuters — The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a massive Republican farm bill with changes to the government food stamps program that make it unlikely to become law in this form. The Senate is considering its own farm bill with no major changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) used […] Read more
OFA pre-election policy targets broader economic development
Stable rural areas and thriving farms can help urbanites with some of their biggest challenges. That’s the message from the Ontario Federation of Agriculture going into next year’s provincial election. The OFA talked about how it is framing its election strategy at its annual meeting, which ran Monday and Tuesday in Toronto. “With the election […] Read more
P.E.I. farms and fisheries ministries merge
A reorganization of Prince Edward Island’s government departments will see agriculture split from forestry and instead paired with fisheries. Having returned to office in the May 4 election, Premier Wade MacLauchlan on Wednesday announced his new cabinet, appointing former education and transportation minister Alan McIsaac as minister of agriculture and fisheries. As the agriculture and […] Read more
N.S. consolidates inspections in cost-cutting budget
Nova Scotia is set to gather its agricultural, environmental and public health inspection work into one department, along with other consolidation and cuts in its latest budget. Finance Minister Diana Whalen’s 2015-16 budget, released Thursday, calls for consolidation of inspection, compliance and enforcement functions in its Natural Resources, Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment departments, plus its […] Read more
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