{"id":86817,"date":"2026-09-22T08:08:50","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T12:08:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/?p=86817"},"modified":"2026-09-22T08:08:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T12:08:50","slug":"first-ever-rural-ontario-week-recognizes-the-vital-role-rural-communities-play-in-ontarios-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/first-ever-rural-ontario-week-recognizes-the-vital-role-rural-communities-play-in-ontarios-future\/","title":{"rendered":"First-ever Rural Ontario Week recognizes the vital role rural communities play in Ontario\u2019s future"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>The Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) is celebrating the first-ever Rural Ontario Week, taking place September 20\u201326, and recognizing the people, communities, businesses and industries that make rural Ontario an essential part of the province\u2019s success.<\/div>\n
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Designated unanimously by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Rural Ontario Week will take place annually during the third full week of September. This year\u2019s theme,\u00a0Celebrating Community, Economy and Opportunity,\u00a0<\/i>recognizes the people and places that make rural communities strong, the businesses and industries that help Ontario grow, and the opportunities shaping rural Ontario\u2019s future.<\/div>\n
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\u201cRural Ontario is a critical part of Ontario\u2019s story\u2014and its future,\u201d said Christa Lowry, Chair of ROMA. \u201cOur communities are home to people who are growing businesses, creating jobs, producing food, building things, caring for their neighbours and finding new ways to strengthen their communities. Rural Ontario is innovative, resilient and full of opportunity.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Rural municipalities also play a critical role in supporting Ontario\u2019s growth and prosperity. They deliver essential local services across large geographic areas, maintain roads and infrastructure, support housing and economic development, and work to ensure residents have access to health care, reliable connectivity and other services.<\/div>\n
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\u201cRural municipal leaders understand what our communities need because we are on the ground every day,\u201d said Lowry. \u201cBut rural communities also face unique challenges. Smaller tax bases, vast service areas, higher infrastructure costs, health care shortages and gaps in connectivity can make it harder to deliver the services and infrastructure that our residents and businesses need.\u201d<\/div>\n
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ROMA is advocating for policies and investments that reflect those rural realities, including long-term and predictable infrastructure funding, better access to primary care, solutions to rural housing and homelessness, improved broadband and cellular connectivity, and a modern provincial-municipal fiscal framework.<\/div>\n
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\u201cCelebrating rural Ontario means more than recognizing what makes our communities special,\u201d said Lowry. \u201cIt means making sure rural municipalities have the tools and resources to build on our strengths and seize the opportunities ahead. ROMA will continue to work with our members and partners to ensure rural voices are heard as Ontario plans for its future.\u201d<\/div>\n
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ROMA is encouraging municipalities, community organizations, businesses and residents across rural Ontario to participate in Rural Ontario Week by sharing local stories and celebrating the people and places that make their communities unique.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) is celebrating the first-ever Rural Ontario Week, taking place September 20\u201326, and recognizing the people, communities, businesses and industries that make rural Ontario an essential part of the province\u2019s success. Designated unanimously by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Rural Ontario Week will take place annually during the third full …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":86818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-provincial"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-29 08:29:11","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86817"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86819,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86817\/revisions\/86819"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}