It is not often when the stars align so someone can respond to a need by following one of their passions.

But that is exactly what transpired for Lindsay Rubeniuk of 100th Meridian Immigration when she launched her podcast Immigration on the Canadian Prairies as means of helping rural communities deal with shortages of labour.

Rubeniuk is currently working on her third season of the podcast. Each of the seasons have dealt with a different stream of information.

Seasons one and two dealt with programs offered for immigrants by the federal and provincial governments. When it comes to immigration, a lot of people think the Provincial Nominee Program is the only program available, Rubeniuk said.

“And that’s not right. There’s 85 ways you can get to Canada. And a lot of people don’t understand that,” she said, adding the information was geared towards skilled immigrants with a post-secondary education who are fluent in English. “That’s my market.”

Season three is underway and is concentrating on municipalities and how they can lean on immigration to promote economic development

“Even though it’s not directed at my skilled workers, I think that is very informative to them. But at the same time I know that a lot of municipalities are looking at immigration to increase their population and fill the labor shortage that they have,” she said. “So I want them to be aware of all the possibilities and all the pathways that are available to them as a community and how they can position themselves to market themselves to the skilled immigrants that they want in their community.”

With a background in rural development, Rubeniuk’s entire professional life has been centred on growing the local region and economy.

Six years ago she made the decision to become a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant as a means of furthering her goals.

“I said to myself that this is, kind of, the last frontier. If we cannot immigrate people to our region and we are not creating more population or retaining more population then we’re at that point of where else do we get more people?” Rubeniuk said. “If you can’t produce them you can’t retain them, and can’t immigrate them then we’re at . . .you know what else ?”

She started the podcast because she noticed there was not a lot of information about immigration available on social media, the go-to for such things these days.

“I’m not really a great writer, right. I like to talk better and I think I communicate my ideas a lot better speaking, so that’s why I created a podcast,” Rubeniuk said. “Plus it’s more intimate. When a listener listens to me talk I feel like there’s a connection. So they feel like they get to know me and they can trust me, because immigration is a lot about trust. I want people to know that when I talk about the City of Dauphin or the City of Brandon or the City of Steinbach that they can trust me that these are good places to live.”

Community Futures Parkland provided Rubeniuk funding to take training for the podcast, and Grandview artist Kayla Luky allowed her to use her song “The Time it Takes” as theme music for the production.

“So we have a local artist and her and I think alike. Her and I really believe in rural communities. So there’s not only me doing this, but there’s also a local artist that’s involved, too, in terms of lending her rights to her song,” she said.

The episodes are recorded locally and sent to a studio in Winnipeg for editing and post production work.

While it is difficult to gauge the impact of the podcast, Rubeniuk has received numerous emails from overseas listeners letting her know she is providing relevant and needed information.

In fact, many would not have known about the prairies as an option.

“All they know is Ontario and British Columbia. Some who even know that there’s provinces in between is big,” she said. “I think that’s been the impact, creating that awareness. I know it is by the response I get from people that listen to it locally and from abroad.”

And there are no plans to stop the process anytime soon as Rubeniuk is developing a host of new ideas for future seasons

One idea is to highlight businesses for sale in the area and the opportunities they present to immigrants, as well as featuring success stories of immigrants who have made the sometimes difficult decision to come to Canada.

“I think I will give it at least another two or three seasons,” she said, adding seasons run anywhere from seven to 12 episodes. “I have two or three ideas that I still want to work on.”

Economic development is a long game, Rubeniuk said, and creating awareness about the area and its possibilities is the first step in bringing about positive change.

“And so when people that are in, let’s say Eastern Europe, or wherever they’re coming from, don’t know about us. There lies our problem,” she said.

However, Rubeniuk will continue striving to make a difference and make sure the rest of the world views the Canadian Prairies as a viable option when considering a major move in their lives.

“We have too many jobs and I know businesses have shut down or are thinking of shutting down because the lack of skilled labour,” she said. “I don’t get paid to do this, I just do it because it’s my passion. I love rural development. I want people to know about our communities and the prairies and I want them to know that you can get a really good job, you can create your own business and you can live well in a rural area.”