COVID-19 and rural economic development in Canada: insights on impacts, responses, and recovery. (Special Issue: COVID-19 and rural Canada: rural impacts and resilience.)

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 global pandemic has disrupted economies around the world, and rural Canada is no exception. In this paper, the researchers explore the economic development impacts of the pandemic on rural communities across Canada. The researchers seek to provide a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of how rural communities have responded to this crisis and the extent to which they are able to build long-term rural resilience through their responses and plans for recovery. To do so, the researchers draw upon novel data derived from a survey of rural economic development practitioners from across Canada. Our findings are structured around three main themes economic development and business impacts, economic development responses, and resources needed for recovery. The study highlights the geographic unevenness of impacts, responses, and resource needs to address the challenges introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, our research underscores the importance of capacity and context as rural economic development practitioners and other rural leaders have responded to these challenges. Finally, this research provides important insights into the tools and strategies that could build long-term rural resilience.