Welcoming newcomers to a rural community is important to fill skill gaps in the workplace, bring diversity to the region, and attract new residents. The Rural Immigration initiative at RDN is a response to the emerging needs of rural communities to develop capacity in welcoming, retaining and settling newcomers into their towns. Book a workshop with a Rural Immigration team member to under the needs of newcomers both professionally and personally to settle in rural communities for the long-term.
Several rural communities have identified immigration as a workforce strategy for helping businesses fill employment gaps, bring diverse skills to the region, and attract new residents to spend money at local businesses. As a business owner or manager, do you have the systems in place to help newcomers succeed at work and in their family life? Learn about the hiring processes, including onboarding and retention, that create success for employees. Also learn about the supports needed to help newcomer employees and their families find connection and well-being in your community.
In order for a community to find success with welcoming newcomers, businesses, non-profits organizations and community members need to be on the same page to create a welcoming and connected community for newcomers to stay long-term. Learn about the ways that you can create this environment for your new residents. Our Rural Immigration team will also take you through the steps to develop your own community strategy to connect supports in the region, while creating a connected and welcoming community for newcomers to belong to. The strategy can be utilized to create action plans that implement strategic structure into daily activities.
September 11, 2024
Inclusive Communities, Rural Immigration, Test
A resource highlighting how rural communities can transform spaces to support diverse populations
ViewHousing, Housing Education to Support Ukrainian Evacuees in Alberta, Rural Immigration
With growing populations of Ukrainian evacuees across the province, it is also the reality that many more organizations, businesses, communities, groups, and individuals who may not specifically aim to support Ukrainian evacuees are and will be increasingly coming into contact with them throughout the course of their day-to-day activities. This is especially true for smaller, […]
ViewJune 20, 2024
Housing Education to Support Ukrainian Evacuees in Alberta, Rural Immigration
This guidebook will discuss resources to assist Ukrainian newcomers with finding housing, employment, healthcare, education, and the next steps in settling successfully in their new home.
ViewInclusive Communities, Rural Employers’ Awareness on Diversity and Inclusion, Rural Immigration
To receive the guide, please click the button below and complete the following form. We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy, and we’ll only use your personal information to administer your account and to provide the information you requested from us.
ViewInclusive Communities, Rural Immigration
To receive the guide, please click the button below and complete the following form. We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy, and we’ll only use your personal information to administer your account and to provide the information you requested from us.
ViewApril 1, 2024
Affordable Housing, Housing, Housing Education to Support Ukrainian Evacuees in Alberta, Rural Immigration
Click the buttons below to download/view the following resources in PDF format.
ViewJanuary 1, 2021
Immigration
The Rural Development Network developed the Rural Employers’ Awareness on Diversity and Inclusion toolkit to support employers, municipalities and service providers with the successful attraction, settlement and retention of newcomers in rural communities. This toolkit was funded by the Government of Alberta’s 2022-2023 Settlement, Integration and Language Program (SILP) and was done in partnership with […]
ViewWe are all learning on this reconciliation journey with Indigenous Peoples and guidance can help us on our way. Book a workshop with RDN’s Indigenous Liaison to assist your team in connecting words and actions in their work to create allyship with Indigenous Peoples. Below are two workshops that RDN can conduct for your team and we also can customize training to your unique needs. These workshops are interactive and meant for smaller groups, so they are limited to 15 people.
Land acknowledgements are a first step in recognizing and showing respect for Indigenous Peoples. By making land acknowledgements more personalized, a person can demonstrate their commitment to reconciliation through genuine connection and empathy to further relationships with Indigenous Peoples. RDN’s Indigenous Liaison will conduct a workshop with your team to open the conversation about reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, how to personalize your land acknowledgement, and the allyship created from meaningful land acknowledgements.
This workshop creates a safe space to have conversation, create understanding, and demonstrate the power of connecting our words and actions to reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada identified 94 Calls of Action to foster truth, reconciliation, and healing with Indigenous Peoples as well as the United Nations developed its United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples framework for reconciliation, healing and peace with Indigenous Peoples. Learn from RDN’s Indigenous Liaison how to identify the TRC and UNDRIP Calls to Action that are relevant to your team’s work, how to include these Calls to Action in your work planning, and how to create meaningful allyship with Indigenous Peoples in your daily work.
This workshop is a safe space to have conversations, create learnings, dispel myths, and demonstrate the power of actions to create allyship with Indigenous Peoples.
First Nations Data Collection, Homelessness, Housing, Indigenous
April 1, 2024
First Nations Data Collection, Homelessness, Indigenous
The purpose of this storytelling tool is to help us take steps to improve the quality of life, housing, and basic needs within our community. Click the buttons below to download/view the resources.
ViewIn rural settings, fostering age-friendly environments is not just a choice; it’s a necessity. By embracing age-friendly principles, rural communities can enhance quality of life, promote social cohesion, and drive sustainable development for generations to come. Our workshop is designed to provide an overview of the development and implementation of an age-friendly action plan based on the eight domains of age-friendly communities as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO):
The Shelter Pulse Database Project enabled rural and remote shelters to work together in providing trauma-informed policies and procedures for violence against women shelters in Canada. The experts from the field that gathered to share their knowledge to the Shelter Pulse Database make this new tool invaluable. Under the leadership of the Rural Development Network, many partner shelters contributed to the outcome.
Cindy Easton – Mountain Rose Women’s Shelter Association (MRWSA)
As a previous participant in the Enabling Housing Choice project with RDN, we are excited to be making progress on key recommendations outlined in RDN’s report – Attracting Diverse Housing Development in Mayerthorpe. This report has been critical to understanding our community’s diverse housing needs, and has equipped us with community-informed insights on how to address these needs.
Karen St. Martin – Town of Mayerthorpe
Enabling Housing Choice, Housing
Understanding the significance of having people with lived experience and Indigenous people being at the tables of all conversations – especially those with decision making authority. The value of community, and looking after ourselves so we can serve others. That there is a community of people who I can learn from and share with in my work to serve my community.
Training Participant
National Coordinated Access
This training was so invigorating, refreshing and very much needed. The intimate setting, I feel, made a huge difference. We left the event with a deeper understanding and a strengthened network. We were reminded to focus on the capacity that we have, not necessarily all we would love to be able to do, and take it in steps. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Coordinated Access Training Participant
National Coordinated Access
Creating a sense of home is so much more than just a building and the Innovation Fund gave SHI and the YWCA creative space to think differently about our approach to design. Living in Banff National Park also strongly influenced our commitment to net zero targets. Belonging, security, connection, affordability, community pride-these are all factors that have influenced how we developed the Courtyard project.
Connie MacDonald- Chief Executive Officer, YWCA Banff
Housing
We are forever grateful to work together on this insight for our project. If not for the support from RDN on this we would not be where we are today! Our dream was to attain transitional, affordable and market housing in our community. This turned into a goal and now a reality. This housing continuum of care will be able to meet people’s needs while recognizing what their housing realities mean in a rural perspective. RDN has walked along with us and been able to connect and answer many questions, concerns and thoughts during this time.
Rebecca Wells – Executive Director, Wellspring Family Resource Center
Housing
We brainstormed and some said nature and multiculturalism because we are a multicultural building, with people from many different countries and ethnicities here. So we wanted something to represent that, and the mural will make us a landmark in the community as there i s alot of foot-traffic in the community.
St. Joachim Tenant on the Community Mural
Placemaking for Inclusion
There were people there who don’t normally show up to different functions. Everybody was doing something somewhere and were happy to participate and help others
St. Joachim Tenant on the Mural-Painting Event
Placemaking for Inclusion
The atmosphere was quite welcoming for everyone. One person said they had been here for 20 years and this was the best event they had seen. The busyness of the room encouraged cliques to break up and this increase mingling
St. Joachim Tenant on the Mural-Painting Event
Placemaking for Inclusion
It really brought the community together. Overall it was a great success. We also really enjoyed the painting, it was a great opportunity for those who had never painted before.
Senior Tenant, La Société des Manoirs Saint-Joachim
Placemaking for Inclusion
Check back soon!
This Affordable Housing Course brings together tools and resources from across Canada that apply to anyone interested in the affordable housing development process.
Each module is filled with interactive learning tools and can be completed at your own pace. The Affordable Housing Course will guide you through the following development phases:
Length: Asynchronous and Self-Paced. 6 hours.
This online course will enhance your understanding of The Affordable housing development from start to finish through encouraging collaborative discussions with your cohort, and enhanced through Q & A sessions with SHI team members. You will gain an understanding of the affordable housing development process while building meaningful relationships with sector members from across Canada
Discover the key concepts and themes covered in the affordable housing course while exploring the work of the Sustainable Housing Initiative
Discover how your idea for an affordable housing project can be imagined to reflect community needs through these modules:
Engage with the pre-development factors that can shape the design and purpose of your affordable housing project through these modules:
Understand and navigate the steps required for a shovel ready project through these modules:
Discover how to close-out the final phase of your project’s development and ensure its long term sustainability through proactive management practices in these modules:
Explore the growing role of impact investment in affordable housing developments across Canada
Incorporate key learnings of the course and its resources into your day-to-day work in Canada’s housing sector
The Shelter Pulse Database Project enabled rural and remote shelters to work together in providing trauma-informed policies and procedures for violence against women shelters in Canada. The experts from the field that gathered to share their knowledge to the Shelter Pulse Database make this new tool invaluable. Under the leadership of the Rural Development Network, many partner shelters contributed to the outcome.
Cindy Easton – Mountain Rose Women’s Shelter Association (MRWSA)
As a previous participant in the Enabling Housing Choice project with RDN, we are excited to be making progress on key recommendations outlined in RDN’s report – Attracting Diverse Housing Development in Mayerthorpe. This report has been critical to understanding our community’s diverse housing needs, and has equipped us with community-informed insights on how to address these needs.
Karen St. Martin – Town of Mayerthorpe
Enabling Housing Choice, Housing
Understanding the significance of having people with lived experience and Indigenous people being at the tables of all conversations – especially those with decision making authority. The value of community, and looking after ourselves so we can serve others. That there is a community of people who I can learn from and share with in my work to serve my community.
Training Participant
National Coordinated Access
This training was so invigorating, refreshing and very much needed. The intimate setting, I feel, made a huge difference. We left the event with a deeper understanding and a strengthened network. We were reminded to focus on the capacity that we have, not necessarily all we would love to be able to do, and take it in steps. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Coordinated Access Training Participant
National Coordinated Access
Creating a sense of home is so much more than just a building and the Innovation Fund gave SHI and the YWCA creative space to think differently about our approach to design. Living in Banff National Park also strongly influenced our commitment to net zero targets. Belonging, security, connection, affordability, community pride-these are all factors that have influenced how we developed the Courtyard project.
Connie MacDonald- Chief Executive Officer, YWCA Banff
Housing
We are forever grateful to work together on this insight for our project. If not for the support from RDN on this we would not be where we are today! Our dream was to attain transitional, affordable and market housing in our community. This turned into a goal and now a reality. This housing continuum of care will be able to meet people’s needs while recognizing what their housing realities mean in a rural perspective. RDN has walked along with us and been able to connect and answer many questions, concerns and thoughts during this time.
Rebecca Wells – Executive Director, Wellspring Family Resource Center
Housing
We brainstormed and some said nature and multiculturalism because we are a multicultural building, with people from many different countries and ethnicities here. So we wanted something to represent that, and the mural will make us a landmark in the community as there i s alot of foot-traffic in the community.
St. Joachim Tenant on the Community Mural
Placemaking for Inclusion
There were people there who don’t normally show up to different functions. Everybody was doing something somewhere and were happy to participate and help others
St. Joachim Tenant on the Mural-Painting Event
Placemaking for Inclusion
The atmosphere was quite welcoming for everyone. One person said they had been here for 20 years and this was the best event they had seen. The busyness of the room encouraged cliques to break up and this increase mingling
St. Joachim Tenant on the Mural-Painting Event
Placemaking for Inclusion
It really brought the community together. Overall it was a great success. We also really enjoyed the painting, it was a great opportunity for those who had never painted before.
Senior Tenant, La Société des Manoirs Saint-Joachim
Placemaking for Inclusion
August 27, 2024
Homelessness
The Rural, Remote and Indigenous Communities’ Responses to Homelessness in Alberta What We Heard Report was published in May 2024 and funded by Homeward Trust Edmonton and the Government of Canada’s Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy.
ViewAugust 26, 2024
Homelessness, National Coordinated Access
The development of the training materials and toolkit builds upon the Housing First philosophy while using a place-based approach along with a person-centred and trauma-informed care lens based on Reconciliation. The was based on a bottom-up, rather than a top-down approach to understanding Coordinated Access through the voices of those with lived experience and the […]
ViewFirst Nations Data Collection, Homelessness, Housing, Indigenous
April 1, 2024
First Nations Data Collection, Homelessness, Indigenous
The purpose of this storytelling tool is to help us take steps to improve the quality of life, housing, and basic needs within our community. Click the buttons below to download/view the resources.
ViewApril 1, 2024
Homelessness
Coming Soon!
ViewJanuary 1, 2023
Alberta Provincial Estimations, Homelessness
October 1, 2022
Alberta Provincial Estimations, Estimating Rural Homelessness, Homelessness
This step-by-step document has been developed by the Rural Development Network (RDN) for rural communities across Canada that wish to accurately estimate the number of homeless individuals in their community. Click the button below to view the resource as a PDF.
ViewJune 1, 2021
Homelessness
Often, rural and remote communities do not have emergency shelters or supportive/ transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness. In addition, communities may be limited in the resources, staff capacity, trained volunteers, as well as the time needed to implement longer-term responses to homelessness, such as housing or shelter solutions, particularly prior to the onset of […]
ViewEmpower your rural community to thrive with our specialized and customizable training program tailored for service providers and municipalities. Gain an understanding of the unique needs of newcomers moving to rural areas, and learn effective strategies to meet those needs. Our comprehensive training equips you with the tools to foster a more welcoming and inclusive community, ensuring long-term retention and growth.
Workshops are facilitated by our experienced team either virtually or in person, and can be tailored to your specific needs.
The Shelter Pulse Database Project enabled rural and remote shelters to work together in providing trauma-informed policies and procedures for violence against women shelters in Canada. The experts from the field that gathered to share their knowledge to the Shelter Pulse Database make this new tool invaluable. Under the leadership of the Rural Development Network, many partner shelters contributed to the outcome.
Cindy Easton – Mountain Rose Women’s Shelter Association (MRWSA)
As a previous participant in the Enabling Housing Choice project with RDN, we are excited to be making progress on key recommendations outlined in RDN’s report – Attracting Diverse Housing Development in Mayerthorpe. This report has been critical to understanding our community’s diverse housing needs, and has equipped us with community-informed insights on how to address these needs.
Karen St. Martin – Town of Mayerthorpe
Enabling Housing Choice, Housing
Understanding the significance of having people with lived experience and Indigenous people being at the tables of all conversations – especially those with decision making authority. The value of community, and looking after ourselves so we can serve others. That there is a community of people who I can learn from and share with in my work to serve my community.
Training Participant
National Coordinated Access
This training was so invigorating, refreshing and very much needed. The intimate setting, I feel, made a huge difference. We left the event with a deeper understanding and a strengthened network. We were reminded to focus on the capacity that we have, not necessarily all we would love to be able to do, and take it in steps. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Coordinated Access Training Participant
National Coordinated Access
Creating a sense of home is so much more than just a building and the Innovation Fund gave SHI and the YWCA creative space to think differently about our approach to design. Living in Banff National Park also strongly influenced our commitment to net zero targets. Belonging, security, connection, affordability, community pride-these are all factors that have influenced how we developed the Courtyard project.
Connie MacDonald- Chief Executive Officer, YWCA Banff
Housing
We are forever grateful to work together on this insight for our project. If not for the support from RDN on this we would not be where we are today! Our dream was to attain transitional, affordable and market housing in our community. This turned into a goal and now a reality. This housing continuum of care will be able to meet people’s needs while recognizing what their housing realities mean in a rural perspective. RDN has walked along with us and been able to connect and answer many questions, concerns and thoughts during this time.
Rebecca Wells – Executive Director, Wellspring Family Resource Center
Housing
We brainstormed and some said nature and multiculturalism because we are a multicultural building, with people from many different countries and ethnicities here. So we wanted something to represent that, and the mural will make us a landmark in the community as there i s alot of foot-traffic in the community.
St. Joachim Tenant on the Community Mural
Placemaking for Inclusion
There were people there who don’t normally show up to different functions. Everybody was doing something somewhere and were happy to participate and help others
St. Joachim Tenant on the Mural-Painting Event
Placemaking for Inclusion
The atmosphere was quite welcoming for everyone. One person said they had been here for 20 years and this was the best event they had seen. The busyness of the room encouraged cliques to break up and this increase mingling
St. Joachim Tenant on the Mural-Painting Event
Placemaking for Inclusion
It really brought the community together. Overall it was a great success. We also really enjoyed the painting, it was a great opportunity for those who had never painted before.
Senior Tenant, La Société des Manoirs Saint-Joachim
Placemaking for Inclusion
Inclusive Communities, Rural Employers’ Awareness on Diversity and Inclusion, Rural Immigration
To receive the guide, please click the button below and complete the following form. We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy, and we’ll only use your personal information to administer your account and to provide the information you requested from us.
ViewIntroducing READI: The Rural Employers’ Awareness on Diversity and Inclusion training program. Elevate your business’s sustainability and tackle labour shortages head-on with our customizable training. Learn proven strategies for successful recruitment, hiring, and retention of newcomer employees, ensuring a diverse and inclusive workplace that drives growth and prosperity for your business.
The Shelter Pulse Database Project enabled rural and remote shelters to work together in providing trauma-informed policies and procedures for violence against women shelters in Canada. The experts from the field that gathered to share their knowledge to the Shelter Pulse Database make this new tool invaluable. Under the leadership of the Rural Development Network, many partner shelters contributed to the outcome.
Cindy Easton – Mountain Rose Women’s Shelter Association (MRWSA)
As a previous participant in the Enabling Housing Choice project with RDN, we are excited to be making progress on key recommendations outlined in RDN’s report – Attracting Diverse Housing Development in Mayerthorpe. This report has been critical to understanding our community’s diverse housing needs, and has equipped us with community-informed insights on how to address these needs.
Karen St. Martin – Town of Mayerthorpe
Enabling Housing Choice, Housing
Understanding the significance of having people with lived experience and Indigenous people being at the tables of all conversations – especially those with decision making authority. The value of community, and looking after ourselves so we can serve others. That there is a community of people who I can learn from and share with in my work to serve my community.
Training Participant
National Coordinated Access
This training was so invigorating, refreshing and very much needed. The intimate setting, I feel, made a huge difference. We left the event with a deeper understanding and a strengthened network. We were reminded to focus on the capacity that we have, not necessarily all we would love to be able to do, and take it in steps. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Coordinated Access Training Participant
National Coordinated Access
Creating a sense of home is so much more than just a building and the Innovation Fund gave SHI and the YWCA creative space to think differently about our approach to design. Living in Banff National Park also strongly influenced our commitment to net zero targets. Belonging, security, connection, affordability, community pride-these are all factors that have influenced how we developed the Courtyard project.
Connie MacDonald- Chief Executive Officer, YWCA Banff
Housing
We are forever grateful to work together on this insight for our project. If not for the support from RDN on this we would not be where we are today! Our dream was to attain transitional, affordable and market housing in our community. This turned into a goal and now a reality. This housing continuum of care will be able to meet people’s needs while recognizing what their housing realities mean in a rural perspective. RDN has walked along with us and been able to connect and answer many questions, concerns and thoughts during this time.
Rebecca Wells – Executive Director, Wellspring Family Resource Center
Housing
We brainstormed and some said nature and multiculturalism because we are a multicultural building, with people from many different countries and ethnicities here. So we wanted something to represent that, and the mural will make us a landmark in the community as there i s alot of foot-traffic in the community.
St. Joachim Tenant on the Community Mural
Placemaking for Inclusion
There were people there who don’t normally show up to different functions. Everybody was doing something somewhere and were happy to participate and help others
St. Joachim Tenant on the Mural-Painting Event
Placemaking for Inclusion
The atmosphere was quite welcoming for everyone. One person said they had been here for 20 years and this was the best event they had seen. The busyness of the room encouraged cliques to break up and this increase mingling
St. Joachim Tenant on the Mural-Painting Event
Placemaking for Inclusion
It really brought the community together. Overall it was a great success. We also really enjoyed the painting, it was a great opportunity for those who had never painted before.
Senior Tenant, La Société des Manoirs Saint-Joachim
Placemaking for Inclusion
Inclusive Communities, Rural Employers’ Awareness on Diversity and Inclusion, Rural Immigration
To receive the guide, please click the button below and complete the following form. We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy, and we’ll only use your personal information to administer your account and to provide the information you requested from us.
View
11443-143 Street,
NW Edmonton,
Alberta T5M 1V7
