Although cultural and subcultural differences during the transition to adulthood have been examined, important factors like rural/urban upbringing and gender differences among Canadian emerging adults have been neglected. The present study explored developmentally significant tasks including criteria for adulthood, beliefs about religiosity, and risk-taking behaviors among 287 male and female Canadian emerging adults from rural and urban backgrounds. Results revealed that compared to their urban counterparts, rural emerging adults were more likely to place importance on role and biological transitions as criteria for achieving adulthood, and engaged in more risk-taking behaviors (excluding smoking). Female emerging adults were more likely to believe in the importance of role transition, norm compliance, and family capacities compared to males, and were more likely to smoke. In contrast, males were more likely than females to espouse the importance of biological transitions and engage in non-smoking risk behaviors. These findings were interpreted in light of sociocultural and gender socialization differences among emerging adults from rural and urban upbringings. (Contains 1 table.)