Capacity Building in Rural Ontario Infrastructure: An Analysis of Collaborative Infrastructure as an Exploration for Policy and Economic Development

Abstract

Infrastructure in Canada has reached a critical deficit impacting large and small communities. Rural municipalities specifically face challenges of capacity to manage infrastructure that requires significant investment and renewal. This research examines collaboration as a strategy for rural infrastructure management through a mixed methods approach and comparative case study research design. First, this research sought to understand if collaboration supports rural infrastructure and second, infrastructure strategies were examined to assess the connection between infrastructure and economic development. The results of the study were analyzed in the context of new regionalism as an analytical approach. This research identifies collaborative infrastructure strategies providing an in-depth analysis of two collaborative infrastructure cases which provide improved municipal capacity to manage infrastructure, motivations and barriers to collaboration are discussed, and an evidence-based examination of the connections between infrastructure and economic development is provided.