**Savrup Saran, Conservative MP Arpan Khanna, Kayla Han and Shehryar Manzar. / RURAL AND READY PHOTO**

A growing Southwestern Ontario initiative is working to close the widening education and opportunity gap between urban and rural communities. Rural and Ready, a federally registered non-profit, was founded to address the stark disparities in secondary school experiences across Canada — a country with one of the highest urban-rural divides in workforce education among OECD nations.

Rural students often face limited access to extracurricular and leadership opportunities due to geo-demographic factors and lower local demand, leaving them at higher risk of social isolation, lower income levels and fewer post-secondary or career options. In response, Rural and Ready launched the People in Motion Case Competition, the first high school case competition in Oxford County, during the 2024–2025 academic year.

The competition, modelled after a hackathon, challenges students to tackle real-world community issues by developing strategic, practical solutions. Nearly 30 students took part in the inaugural event, gaining experience in public speaking, collaboration, communication and entrepreneurship. Participants presented their proposals to a panel of local leaders, including a deputy mayor, a student entrepreneur and a school board trustee.

Town of Ingersoll Deputy Mayor Lindsay Wilson expressed enthusiasm for the initiative, noting, “I look forward to seeing the case competition grow in the coming years, including the opportunity to adopt solutions presented as part of the program. Thanks to Rural & Ready’s leadership, Oxford now has a much-needed student engagement tool that I know the community will support in the coming years.”

Earlier in 2024, Rural and Ready representatives met with Member of Parliament Arpan Khanna, who expressed strong support for the organization’s focus on empowering local youth.

The organization has also been invited to partner with the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) program in the Non-Profit, Education, and Childcare stream. This collaboration will allow high school students to develop sector-specific skills before pursuing post-secondary education, training or employment.

Student submissions in the case competition have included proposals such as youth-centred financial literacy programs tailored to rural communities and community recreation initiatives designed to incentivize youth engagement.

As it looks ahead, Rural and Ready aims to expand the People in Motion program throughout Southwestern Ontario, continuing its mission to foster a growth mindset and encourage rural students to become proactive problem-solvers in their communities.

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