CEDTAP Receives $5 Million to Continue Work
This is Carleton, October 23, 2000

Last week, it was announced that Carleton University's Community Economic Development Technical Assistance Program (CEDTAP) received a $5 million grant from the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation to support economic development programs in communities across Canada.

“This is the single largest private effort in community economic development in Canada,” said Allan Maslove, Dean of Public Affairs and Management at Carleton University. “CEDTAP believes that community organizations can create local solutions in a globalized economy.”

CEDTAP will provide business and organizational advice to 500 community organizations, urban and rural alike, over the next five years.

The program started with a three-year pilot phase, in which almost 100 communities received technical assistance from 30 professional groups across Canada. Some organizations used CEDTAP support to plan or finance new enterprises employing low-income residents. Others received training in how to set up local development corporations or small-business loan funds.

“Our technical assistance providers are highly skilled, very experienced and totally dedicated to high standards of professionalism,” said CEDTAP Coordinator Jacques Carrière. “ They offer on-site training and consultation. Their advice pays off in real results.”

Community economic development, or CED, is an approach that employs a non-profit organization—a community development corporation, a municipal corporation, a multi-stakeholder cooperative or a community loan fund—to coordinate and animate business and job generation. Practitioners of CED place a priority on integrating unemployed and disadvantaged citizens into the development process.

CEDTAP held its annual forum in Moncton, NB, last week where nearly 90 CED professionals and community leaders from across Canada exchanged project experiences, tools and techniques, and planned the implementation of CEDTAP. In workshops, participants discussed the uses of information technology, investment strategies, and evaluation methods.

“The Moncton meeting was an opportunity for technical assistance providers and communities to talk with each other not only about the past, but especially about the future. The meeting was an excellent platform for the launch of CEDTAP across Canada.”