2020 Economic Development Week

Every year, the International Economic Development Council celebrates International Economic Development Week. This year, we celebrate our economic developers and the programs they develop to enhance the quality of life in their communities around the globe from May 4th-9th.

What is economic development?

The IEDC defines economic development as “the practice of improving a community’s economic well-being and quality of life”

Economic developers wear many hats as their job often includes a wide range of activities including business retention and expansion, labour force strategy, investment attraction, sector development, and much more. All of these activities require using data-driven and fact-based knowledge to develop programming and services to bolster the business community.

Agriculture is sometimes inherent within economic development roles, as many rural communities are agriculture-based or support a relatively strong agriculture sector. Sometimes, this role may be more well-defined, depending on the size of community, agriculture sector, and resources available. Across Canada, we see agricultural economic development staff at federal, provincial/regional and local levels.

Although they may look a little different, the Canadian agriculture and agri-food sector thrives within both rural and urban settings. Economic developers play a key role in making connections and acting on collaborative opportunities between rural and urban communities.

Here’s what some of our local economic development officers have been up to in supporting the agriculture and agri-food sector: