The Rural Immigration Initiative is a response to the emerging needs of rural communities’ ability to welcome, retain, and settle newcomers into their small towns. Our Immigration team has expertise in supporting communities, municipalities, and other organizations to better understand the needs of newcomers through a rural lens.
The Rural Immigration Initiative aims to take a holistic approach to support the settlement and integration of newcomers in rural communities. Our immigration team focuses on capacity-building projects for service providers, municipalities, and employers. Many of the communities we have worked with are participating in rural immigration programs or intend to welcome newcomers into their communities.
Through customized training, information gathering, and engagement, our team of subject matter experts deliver solutions tailored to meet specific community needs and to support the successful attraction, settlement, and retention of newcomers in rural communities.
Rural Immigration
A capacity-building project to support employers with the successful attraction, settlement and retention of newcomers into rural communities.
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This project will develop and deliver a train-the-trainer, capacity-building training series that will provide relevant information and resources about Ukrainian evacuees, their specific needs, and appropriate approaches to service provision.
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READI is a capacity-building training program created to support employers in rural communities with the successful attraction, settlement, and retention of immigrant employees. This training was done both virtually and in-person and was created to fill the gaps and challenges that employers experience in supporting or attracting newcomer employees. This project created a toolkit that […]
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In Our Hands was a co-operative entrepreneurship (“co-opreneurship”) program that aimed to facilitate the development of co-operative enterprises that meet the employment needs and entrepreneurial aspirations of Canadian newcomers. The goal of the project was to support newcomers to Canada through all the stages of starting and growing a co-operative business and to test the […]
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This project was designed to support rural communities, service providers, community-based organizations, immigrant-serving agencies, employment centres, and municipalities in understanding the unique needs and barriers faced by newcomers moving to rural communities.
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This project was designed to support rural employers in better understanding and creating more welcoming spaces for employees of different religious, spiritual, and non-religious backgrounds in the Temiskaming Shores & Area region. The two initiatives piloted were employee resource groups (ERG) and a certification training.
ViewWe help identify knowledge gaps and challenges in welcoming newcomers, and create individualized training, policies and practices, and resources.
Our team works collaboratively to identify challenges in welcoming newcomers, and develop training, policies, and resources to better attract, retain and settle newcomers in rural areas.
Learn MoreOur customizable training is tailored for service providers and municipalities. It focuses on teaching strategies to effectively meet newcomers needs and foster welcoming communities.
Learn MoreElevate your business’s sustainability and tackle labour shortages head-on with our customizable training.
Learn MoreJanuary 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 […]
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RDN set up Middlesex County for success by delivering quality website content and educational graphics for our homelessness communications plan. The content was provided in templates that were easy to use and adapt as our needs changed and revisions were needed. RDN also created branding for the project with a new logo, tagline and matching graphics. The communication plan outlined how to implement the communications through the various channels, including social media, to reach target audiences. The plan also provided evaluation metrics for our communications goals, so we could measure the success of our campaigns. We appreciated how RDN listened to our needs and delivered exactly what we needed and more.
Joe Winser, Director of Human Services, Middlesex County
Homelessness, Shared Services
We engaged RDN to complete a full review and update of our organizational policies at a time when we simply didn’t have the internal capacity to take it on. From start to finish, they were easy to work with, asked thoughtful and insightful questions, and delivered exactly what we needed—on time and on budget. Their expertise and efficiency made a complex process feel manageable, and we could not have done it without them. We would absolutely recommend RDN to any organization looking for knowledgeable, dependable, and professional support.
Stephanie Miller, Lloydminster Region Housing Group
Shared Services
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
11443-143 Street,
NW Edmonton,
Alberta T5M 1V7
