-
Uniquely Rural
Uniquely Rural
Rural Alberta is a unique place. Rural municipalities cover more than 85% of the province’s land mass and have approximately 19% of Alberta’s population. Rural Alberta also delivers an economic contribution to the province well beyond its share of population, as it is home to over 41% of the province’s public and private investment and 26% of the province’s GDP. This means that Alberta’s rural municipalities, despite their small populations, have a huge responsibility to care for the land, infrastructure, and industry that enables this great province to succeed.
Too often, the true story of what goes on in rural Alberta is distorted or even lost amidst the big numbers of busy cities, leading to unfair or even completely incorrect comparisons and a lack of understanding of what rural municipalities do. RMA staff recently visited member municipalities across the province to learn about what makes rural Alberta unique. These are their stories.
While rural community may look different than it does in urban areas, the same principles of volunteerism, compassion, and service are evident.
While an urban municipality mitigates disasters that could impact many people in a small area, the rural challenge, is, in many ways, the opposite.
Due to the geographic distances between homes and businesses, service providers have little incentive to invest significant capital in supplying internet services.
Collaboration in rural communities means a lot more than information sharing and the joint meetings. It allows communities to have programs which would otherwise be unobtainable.
If you’ve driven through rural Alberta in recent years, you’ve likely seen a new landscape feature: massive windmills and sprawling solar farms.
Rural communities face unique challenges and opportunities in providing social services, including service delivery to residents who live far apart.
Whether it was where they currently lived, grew up, or within their extended family, for generations Albertans have had a strong link to agriculture.