EDCO Member Updates

Marketing and Project Coordinator Announcement

Please join us in welcoming the newest addition to EDCO's team, Laura DeMille. Laura joined us at the beginning of September as our Marketing & Project Coordinator.

Laura brings a vast amount of experience in project management, marketing and event planning. Laura has a strong municipal background, with additional experience in Hospitality Management, Project Management in the Economic Development sector and is excited to utilize her skills in her new role as Marketing and Project Coordinator.

Connect with Laura at 705-279-8829 and/or laura.demille@edco.on.ca

EDCO Member Updates

Nomination Window Closing this Friday: EDCO Board of Directors Election 2024-2026

EDCO's election takes place to fill vacancies created on the Board of Directors for a two-year term. For our 2024–2026 election, we are filling four vacancies.

Please see the Nomination Package linked below for more details about our election process and to access the nomination paperwork. Interested candidates must submit the completed paperwork no later than September 15, 2023.

Download the Nomination Package

This year's EDCO Awards of Excellence Program is officially open!

This program is for all those undertaking municipal economic development activities within the Province of Ontario. Participants are not required to be members of EDCO and all projects produced or implemented in the last 12 months are eligible (October 2021 to October 2022).

Celebrate your team. Celebrate your community.

Learn More About the Awards Applications

Environics Analytics and EDCO have partnered again to bring a special offer to our members. Do you endeavour to make strategic decisions that are data driven but lack the budget needed to access the data?

This offer’s objective is an attempt to make data accessible to Ontario’s smaller municipalities about their populations and their expenditure and lifestyle attributes. The aim is to arm Ontario’s smaller municipalities with access to this data to:

Help inform strategic plans and Master Plans
Provide insights into local populations to help with communications, engagement and service delivery
Develop a deeper sense of understanding of local populations to help decision-makers better anticipate jurisdictional needs and provide services and programs that are more relevant and valuable

Join us on September 27, 2023 or November 1, 2023 to learn more!

Mark your Calendar for CollaboratiON: Building Ontario Together!

EDCO’s 67th Annual Conference and Showcase

February 6-8, 2024

September 21, 2023

Kenora Agenda

8:00 AM Registration & Networking

8:30 AM Welcome

9:00 AM Keynote Speakers: Rob Dokuchie and Taras Manzie, Lake of the

Woods Brewing Company. 10 Years of Community Building – one

beer at a time.

10:00 AM Boom to Bust to Boom: An Ontario Mill town tale

11:00 AM Networking Break

11:15 AM How to Twin a Highway: The Four Winds Partnership

12:00 PM Lunch Break & Networking

1:00 PM Diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) in the workplace: How (and why)

to take action

1:45 PM A Winnipeg Favourite at the Lake: BDI

2:30 PM Break

2:45 PM Big Picture Campaign: How the MUSE Came to Be

3:15 PM Eco-Tourism and Community Development: Mosswood Adventures

4:00 PM Question & Answer Period from the day

Learn More & Register for Kenora here

October 18, 2023

Cobourg Agenda

8:30 AM Registration & Networking

9:00 AM Welcome

9:15 AM Workforce Development - Microcredentialling Practices

10:15 AM Workforce Development - Improving the employability of

underemployed people

10:30 AM Networking Break

11:15 AM Creative Community Spaces

12:15 PM Lunch Break & Networking

1:15 PM Indigenous Economic Development - Raising Awareness and

Tourism Kingston Case Study

2:15 PM Networking Break

2:30 PM Current and Future Trends in Investment Attraction

3:30 PM Question & Answer Period from the day

Learn More & Register for Cobour Here

November 14, 2023

Windsor-Essex Agenda

8:30 AM Registration & Networking

9:00 AM Welcome

9:15 AM Supporting the Agri-business Value Chain

10:30 AM Break

10:45 AM Creating a Cluster & Tour

12:00 PM Tour & Lunch Break & Networking

1:00 PM Workforce Development: Attracting in-demand skilled workers

and creating inclusive workplace culture for newcomers and

diverse workforce

2:15 PM Break

2:30 PM Tourism Panel

3:45 PM Question & Answer Period from the day

Learn More & Register for Windsor-Essex Here

EDCO Insider allows individual communities to easily and cost-effectively create their own customized apps and build incentives for people to visit places of interest or make purchases locally.

Take advantage of this service powered by 468 Communications, and drive economic development by rewarding people for exploring your community!

Learn More

My Main Street

Wiarton looks to offset ‘Big Dig’ with big data and business grants

Wiarton’s carefully planned $11-million ‘Big Dig’ infrastructure and beautification project to revitalize the two-block stretch of its downtown core was designed to give the heart of the community new life. Then COVID-19 arrived, adding many unexpected delays.

“The timing couldn’t have been more unfortunate,” says Danielle Edwards, Manager of Economic Development and Communications for the Town of South Bruce Peninsula, which includes Wiarton.

Ontario Strengthening Competitiveness to Attract Investments

Earlier this month, Site Selection Magazine named Ontario the most competitive province for companies to invest in for the fifth time in the last six years. Companies both domestic and international are looking to grow in Ontario. We’ve attracted over $25 billion in auto and EV battery-related investments, over $3 billion in life sciences investments and billions more in tech investments.

Government of Canada supports Indigenous economic development in southern Ontario

Indigenous businesses, organizations, and entrepreneurs are an important part of growing the economy and creating good jobs in southern Ontario and across Canada. That is why the Government of Canada is working with these Indigenous communities and their members to strengthen relationships so that people can reach their potential and create new possibilities across Ontario.

Read more here.

Check out the EDCO Career Page