 Study Design Subject Recruitment: All patients admitted to the pulmonary ward for an AECOPD, including those who have completed Aim 1, will be offered participation into this arm of the study. Patients found to have an acute cardiac injury during admission, mobility issues or residence outside the greater Edmonton area will be excluded. Consenting patients will be subsequently randomized into one of two groups: early PR versus usual care. Patients randomized to early PR will be enrolled within 1 month of discharge into a PR program, while usual care patients will be followed-up by their most responsible physician as determined by the admitting team. The PR group will be enrolled in the Breathe Easy Program at the Center for Lung Health, and will proceed through the program in a typical fashion. All patients will be followed up 6 months after discharge and will be interviewed to assess disease status, management review and if there has been a history of recurrence or relapse of the AECOPD. Hospital admissions and length of stay data will be obtained through electronic medical records. Patient assessments will include: quality of life, 6min walk, dyspnea, self-efficacy, physical activity, pulse wave velocity, vascular function, systemic inflammation TNFα, MMP-2, IL-6 and CRP and FeNO. All data will be collected before, immediately after and 6month after PR. The control group will have the same data collected at the same scheduled time. See above for descriptions of methods. 