The Rural Development Institute celebrated 25 years as an academic research centre at Brandon University. In recognition of this anniversary, the Institute has commissioned a series of Rural Factsheets. The eleven Factsheets detail ongoing changes to Manitoba’s rural demographics and economy. The intent of the factsheets is to compile and make more widely available, information about rural Manitoba that is currently difficult to access. The Factsheets were supported by two workshops where representatives of a dozen organizations (see Appendix A) working in rural areas or on rural
development, commented on the utility of the Factsheets, and how they could be used to guide policy. This discussion paper builds upon aspects of the Factsheets and comments from the Workshops and identifies emerging challenges and policy pathways.