The Innovative Communities Fund (ICF) invests in strategic projects that build the economies of Atlantic Canada's communities.Working in partnership with Atlantic communities and stakeholders, ICF builds on the strengths of communities and provides the tools needed to identify opportunities available for their sustainable economic growth.
ICF focuses on investments that lead to long-term employment and economic capacity building in rural communities. Urban initiatives that stimulate the competitiveness and vitality of rural communities may be considered on a selective basis.
“These papers represent some issues that face public policy-makers as they begin to work toward programs and policies that will address the aspirations and needs of Aboriginal people and communities in urban areas.”
"To bring together industry leaders and Aboriginal organizations to share best practices in partnership building and promote further engagement from both communities, the Public Policy Forum organized a national workshop at The Westin in Ottawa on June 4, 2009, with a private reception the evening before.
"The goal of this report is to investigate the relationship between educational attainment, remoteness, and labour market and economic performance at the reserve level for Aboriginal Canadians. The report uses reserve-level data on average earnings, GDP per capita, labour market indicators and distance to a service centre for 312 reserves. Using descriptive statistics, simple correlation and multiple regression analysis, the report draws conclusion on four important questions.
"Has the labour market situation of Aboriginal people in Canada been improving over the last several years? This paper uses data from the 1996 and 2001 censuses to present comprehensive, factual answers to this question. The paper looks at two main indicators of labour market activity – unemployment and participation rates – past, present and future. It reviews the labour market position of Aboriginal people in comparison to the general population in the provinces and territories, in cities with large Aboriginal populations, and on and off reserve. "
"The ways in which urban municipalities understand and work within the context of Aboriginal community aspirations and needs will affect the quality of future urban development, in physical, social, economic and cultural sectors. Planning is central to shaping the institutional arrangements to help actualise Aboriginal community aspirations.
"An Aboriginal workers' co-operative in Winnipeg, Neechi Foods, has developed a series of community economic development (CED) principles that seem to offer a much more comprehensive view of "sustainability." A view that could readily encompass the resource focused definition, but which clearly goes beyond it. This approach to sustainability was developed specifically to address urban economic development, but it could easily be adapted for remote and rural economies too. These principles have been refined over time, through discussion and debate, and now number eleven in total.
