Community Economic Development

The Ottawa Community Loan Fund is an active participant in advancing Community Economic Development (CED) in the Ottawa area. CED is local movement that creates economic opportunity and enhances the social and environmental conditions of communities across North America. CED has a proven track record for building wealth, creating jobs, fostering innovation and productivity, and improving social well being. In Ottawa CED brings together groups of people to support opening small businesses, co-operatives and employment support centres. It also involves setting up loan, micro-credit and equity funds which help finance investment towards new ventures in communities that would not otherwise have access to capital.

The Ottawa Community Economic Development Network (OCEDN) was created in 1999 as a response to recommendations put forward by the City of Ottawa Task Force on Employment. The objectives of the OCEDN are:

• To implement new CED initiatives in Ottawa
• To facilitate capacity building in CED initiatives through technical assistance and improved access to resources
• To increase communication and co-operation among CED enterprises and other organizations
• To communicate the value and potential of CED to the general public, the private sector and all levels of government.

The Ottawa Community Economic Development Network can be contacted at www.ced-dec-ott.net.

Across Canada, the Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet) represents hundreds of local CED organizations and practitioners who believe that CED has the potential to dramatically reduce inequality, foster innovation and raise productivity. CCEDNet has put forward a “communities agenda” to the Federal Government which, focuses on 3 priority areas:

1. Building CED organizations with multi-year, coordinated funding
2. Supporting Human Capital Development; and
3. Growing Community Investment

Detailed background papers on each of these recommendations are available at www.ccednet-rcdec.ca