Scottish Rural Communities Policy Review: stage 2 - Canada case study

5. Responding to the COVID-19 Crisis: Community Futures and the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Community Futures Development Corporations played a critical role in delivering programming on behalf of the federal government. The Regional Relief and Recovery Fund was created in 2020 to provide financial assistance to businesses to cope with and recover from the pandemic. The Regional Relief and Recovery Fund aimed to mitigate financial pressures faced by businesses, support operations during the pandemic, preserve jobs, and ensure economic stability and recovery through interest-free loans and non-repayable contributions to businesses. The programme provided C$2 billion (approximately £1.078 billion), which was administered by Community Futures Development Corporations across rural Canada. The Corporations provided loans of up to C$60,000 (approximately £32,348) to eligible businesses (Auditor General of Canada, 2021).

The impact of the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund was substantial. Community Futures Development Corporations worked with over 15,000 rural businesses through the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund and preserved more than 44,000 rural jobs (Community Futures Canada, 2022). High-level evaluations of the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund programme have been undertaken by the federal government and the Community Futures Network of Canada, however, the full impacts of the programme to rural businesses and economies will not be known for several years.

Rural Civic Societies

There is no direct equivalent of Scottish Rural Action or the Scottish Rural Network in Canada, however, there are national societies with similar mandates and activities in Canada. At the sub-national level, there are rural civic networks that tend to be organised around sectors such as local governments. A full list of non-governmental organisations, charities, and academic centres that represent and contribute to rural development organisations can be found in Appendix C.

One national rural civic society in Canada is the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation. The Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation was established as a charity in 1989 to contribute to the revitalization and sustainability of rural Canada (Markey, Breen, Lauzon, et al., 2015). Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation’s membership comprises of rural community leaders, rural organisations, local government staff and elected officials, provincial government staff, federal government staff, researchers, and businesses. The Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation undertakes the following activities:

• Organise an annual national rural conference to convene discussions on new rural development advancements, rural policies, rural programmes, rural research, and to identify challenges that require attention;
• Facilitate knowledge sharing and mobilization through their monthly newsletter, website, and social media platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, X/Twitter);
• Advocate on behalf of rural communities to provincial and federal governments. Recent examples include a submission to Infrastructure Canada, response to federal budgets, and submission on broadband connectivity;
• Lead and participate on rural development research;
• Publisher of books, reports, and working paper series. Two important and impactful recently publications by the Foundation include:
  • Since 2015, CRRF publishes a State of Rural Canada book. The edited book series, published approximately every two years, takes a deep dive into rural development data, trends, and policy implications. A list of the State of Rural Canada books can be found in Appendix D.
  • During the COVID-19 pandemic, CRRF mobilized it’s members to create the Rural Insights Series on COVID-19, consisting of 19 reports examining the influence of the pandemic on a variety of rural topics such as economic development, health and social services, infrastructure, and gender-based violence. A full list of the COVID-19 Insight Series reports is provided in Appendix E.

There are similarities between the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation and the Scottish Rural Action. Both have a focus on the future of rural places and environments, conduct research and advocacy, engage a broad sector of actors, and focus on knowledge sharing. Scottish Rural Action has an enhanced focus on grassroots movement building and participatory policy advocacy, while Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation’s emphasis has been on creating evidence and research to improve policy and practice in rural places.

A second national rural civic society in Canada is the Community Futures Network of Canada. The Community Futures Network of Canada is a national association that represents and provides support to the 267 Community Futures Development Corporations across Canada. Key activities of Community Futures Network of Canada include:

• Advocate to national and sub-national governments on the value and impacts of the Community Futures Program and local economic development;
• Research and reports on activities, successes, and opportunities within the Community Futures Program;
• Professional development and capacity building for Community Futures Development Corporations staff and voluntary board members;
• Communications to promote the achievements of the Community Futures Development Corporation;
• Host a national conference to facilitate knowledge sharing and capacity building.

There are some similarities between the Community Futures Network of Canada and the Scottish Rural Network. Both organisations have a focus on supporting local economic development, knowledge sharing, facilitating networks, and policy advocacy.