Rural Life

Rural Life in Canada

Up until very recently, Canada’s economy was based on agriculture, fishing and natural resources. Words like “homesteading” and “défricheur” are at the heart of Canadian history. They evoke the struggle of living from the land, the folklore that is at the base of Canadian culture, and the values that have shaped the Canadian psyche.

Aboriginal societies inhabited the land that is now Canada for thousands of years. To this day, Aboriginal peoples derive spiritual inspiration and social principles from the essential workings of nature.

In the last decades, rural life in Canada has taken on a new meaning. While farming, fishing, and natural resources continue to represent significant elements of our economy, life in the country is also characterized by the mechanization of work on the land and on the sea, by people living in rural areas while commuting to work in cities, and by others who chose to retire outside of the city.

Rural settings have also become leisure grounds. Canadians are fond of camping, hiking, fishing and hunting – creating new economic possibilities for rural areas that have gone through important changes, adapting to new market realities, globalization and the attraction to city living.

Rural life not only allows Canadians to communicate with our history; it is another way of life for those who prefer to be closer to nature and is being reinvented in a modern Canadian context.