For decades, rural economic development has often centred on a familiar question: what company can we convince to come here? Pontiac should ask another: what can we become
exceptionally good at?
Pontiac faces challenges common across rural Canada; hundreds of rural communities face the same problems but they also represent an opportunity.
It is from this premise that Pontiac should explore establishing a Rural Innovation Centre of Excellence, bringing together municipalities, businesses, educational institutions, researchers and governments to develop, test and commercialize solutions for rural communities.
It should not begin with constructing a building. It should begin with expertise. Agriculture is an obvious starting point. AgriSaveur Pontiac is developing local food-processing capacity just outside Shawville. A centre could build on this through agricultural technology,
precision agriculture, product development, processing, packaging and commercialization. The economic objective is to capture more of the value generated by what Pontiac already produces.
Forestry presents a similar opportunity. Rather than primarily exporting
timber, applied research and entrepreneurship could explore engineered wood products, biomass, forest residues, sustainableforestry technologies and small-scale manufacturing.
Rural health could become another specialization. The difficulties experienced by Pontiac Community Hospital, including maintaining obstetrical services, reflect a national rural problem: providing specialized health care sustainably across large territories and small populations. Pontiac could test approaches involving tele-medicine, mobile health services, rural paramedicine, maternal care, remote monitoring, workforce recruitment and aging in place.
This is what would distinguish a Centre of Excellence from an ordinary business incubator: research would connect directly to practical rural problems. A farmer identifies a processing problem. Researchers help develop a solution. A local business tests it. If successful, the resulting technology, product or service can be marketed elsewhere.
Economically, this means moving beyond exporting commodities and labour toward creating intellectual property, specialized knowledge, businesses and higher-value products. It could also create opportunities for young people. Knowledge-intensive employment is heavily concentrated in cities. Research partnerships, technical training and
entrepreneurship would not prevent young people from leaving Pontiac, but they would create more opportunities to return.
Pontiac’s proximity to Ottawa-Gatineau is an advantage. Carleton University, the University of Ottawa, UQO, Cégep Heritage College, federal agencies and other institutions should be potential partners rather than simply places to which Pontiac sends its young people.
How could we make this happen?
The MRC should first commission a feasibility study identifying research partners, businesses, existing infrastructure, financing and two or three areas where Pontiac has a genuine comparative advantage. Success should be measured through businesses created, products commercialized, research investment attracted, skilled jobs generated and young workers recruited or retained.
Rurality is too often defined by what it lacks.
Pontiac could instead treat its rural challenges as problems worth solving, developing solutions here and exporting them to rural communities across Canada.
