Call for Proposals

Call for Proposals

Magnetic North 2023
JUNE 12–14, 2023 SUDBURY, ONTARIO

Northern Policy Institute is pleased to announce a call for proposals for the
2023 Magnetic North Conference, which is scheduled to be a three-day event on June 12, 13, and 14, 2023. We expect more than 150 people to gather for the in-person proceedings in Sudbury, Ontario, with another 50 or more joining online.

The goal of the Magnetic North initiative is to encourage community coordination in pan-northern population growth and welcoming community strategy including attraction, retention, reconciliation, and anti-racism efforts. Our annual conferences are meant to set priorities tied to specific actions and assigned to specific actors for the coming twelve months.

If you have work you would like to present in any of the categories below, please submit a proposal for consideration HERE . This is a two-phase call for proposals. To be included in the first round, please submit your proposal by March 31st, 2023. To be included in the second round, please submit your proposal by May 12th, 2023. Those accepted in the first round will be notified by April 14th, 2023, and those accepted in the second round will be notified by May 15, 2023

Download PDF Instructions
Read before you submit

A range of submission types is invited – academic research, case studies and project updates that are applicable to Northern Ontario or other rural, remote, and northern communities. Accepted submissions will be presented at the conference either on day 1 or day 2 as a 15-minute oral presentation. We expect to accept a total of 32 abstracts for oral presentations, eight for each category. The categories may include but are not limited to the following:

Reconciliation – social, economic, individual, workplace

This category will showcase research, case studies, and other project updates on the theme of reconciliation with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples whether on an individual, social, economic or workplace level in context with Northern and rural communities. Subjects may include meaningful engagement, reciprocal relationship building, decolonization, deinstitutionalizing discriminatory practices, and more.

Anti-Racism, diversity, and inclusion

This category will showcase research, case studies, and other project updates on the theme of anti-racism, diversity, and inclusion with respect to welcoming Northern and rural communities. Subjects may include breaking down systemic, institutional and or organizational racism, removing barriers for diverse groups, inclusivity of 2SLGBTQIA+ community members, and more.

Welcoming & Retention

This category will showcase research, case studies, and other project updates on the theme of welcoming and retention, in the scope of welcoming migrants – whether international, inter-province or intra-province – to Northern regions and retaining populations in these Northern and rural communities. Subjects may include creating communities where residents feel welcome, building social capital, reducing outmigration, mitigating rural population decline, and more.

Attraction, Settlement & Support

This category will showcase research, case studies, and other project updates on the broader theme of Northern Ontario’s population, more specifically population attraction, population settlement, and population support. Subjects may include revitalizing and reinvesting, services availability, accessibility to resources, transportation, housing, infrastructure and more.

  1. No more than 300 words;
  2. Submitted in French or English (please submit in the intended language of delivery);
  3. Clearly indicate the format of the presentation requested,
    • Poster presentation or
    • Multimedia presentation;
  4. Include a title as well as a list of presenters with their affiliations and contact information; and,
  5. Indicate up to two of the submission categories listed above for which you would like to be considered.

Previously published work is welcome, but some space will be reserved for unpublished work. This will be a hybrid event, with in-person as well as virtual participation. However, presenters must attend in person. Authors of accepted submissions will be able to choose whether they accept to have their proposals published on the Magnetic North website and in the conference report or not.

Note: Presenters will need to be registered by the in-person registration deadline
(May 19th, 2023)in order to be included in the program.

To learn more about Magnetic North, please click here:

https://www.northernpolicy.ca/magnetic-north

If you would like to submit a proposal, please click here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MagneticNorth2023

If you have questions, please contact:


Daphnée King
Magnetic North Program Officer
dking@northernpolicy.ca T: 1-705-885-8956 ext. 202