About

What Does CEDI Do?

CEDI supports First Nation-Municipal partnerships across Canada to build sustainable relationships and to engage in joint long-term land use and community economic development planning and initiatives.

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Current Partnerships

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Graduated Partnerships

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First Nation Partners

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Municipal Partners

Since 2013, CEDI has helped First Nations and municipalities develop partnerships that establish and support mutually beneficial community economic development. Over this time, CEDI has worked with fifteen formal partnerships, including twenty-four First Nations and twenty-two municipalities and economic development organizations.

These partnerships have successfully co-created respectful and sustainable government-to-government partnerships and joint-led community economic development initiatives and plans.

  • Engaging First Nations and neighbouring municipalities
  • Develop capacity to implement long-term joint planning
  • Community economic development initiatives and land use
  • Building respectful and sustainable partnerships

Watch the CEDI Program Overview

Watch the CEDI Partnerships In Action

Why Joint Community Economic Development (CED)?

Although most First Nations and municipalities across Canada engage in community economic development planning and initiatives, they most often do so in parallel since they work in different jurisdictions.

CEDI partnerships have identified many benefits to working together on joint CED, namely: improve regional economic development prospects, including employment opportunities, external investment and long-term sustainability; all while enhancing relationships with their neighbours and community members.

Beginning as a pilot program in 2013, CEDI worked with six First Nation-municipal partnerships across Canada. Some embarked on economic diversification and tourism plans, while others sought to attract new investors to their region. Most found that in the end, their partnership had gained new tools to implement their shared visions. Learning with and from the Phase 1 partnerships, in 2016, the CEDI Stronger Together Toolkit was created. The Phase 1 partnerships are as follows:

· Seabird Island Band and District of Kent, BC
· Sawridge First Nation, Town of Slave Lake and Municipal District of Lesser Slave River, AB
· Opaskwayak Cree Nation, Town of The Pas and Rural Municipality of Kelsey, MB
· Lac Seul First Nation, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, Municipality of Sioux Lookout, ON
· Keboawek First Nation, Ville de Temiscaming, Municipality of Kipawa, QC
· Madawaska Maliseet First Nation and Ville d’Edmundston, NB

In 2016, Cando and FCM were pleased to launch Phase 2 of the CEDI program. Between 2016 and 2021, CEDI worked with nine First Nation-municipal partnerships across Canada, including 15 First Nations and 12 Municipalities. Several partnerships worked on joint land-use planning, while others focused on tourism, infrastructure, transportation and workforce and employment, and many others. In total 30 joint initiatives were created and $24.7 million was leveraged in provincial and federal funding in Phase 2 alone. The Stronger Together Toolkit was downloaded over 8000 times during this phase. Phase 2 was delivered over three cycles, and the Phase 2 partnerships are as follows:

Cycle 1 (2016-2019)
· Enoch Cree Nation and City of Edmonton, AB
· Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs and City of North Battleford, SK
· Fort William First Nation and City of Thunder Bay, ON
· Paqtnkek Mi’kmaw Nation and County of Antigonish, NS

Cycle 2 (2017-2020)
· Curve Lake First Nation, Hiawatha First Nation, Township of Selwyn, Peterborough and the Kawarthas Economic Development, Township of Otonabee-South Monaghan, and County of Peterborough, ON
· Okanagan Indian Band and City of Vernon, BC

Cycle 3 (2018-2021)
· Shuswap Indian Band and District of Invermere, BC
· Dene Tha’ First Nation and Town of High Level, AB
· Yellowknives Dene First Nation and City of Yellowknife, NWT (2019-2021)

Beginning in early 2022, CEDI Phase III was pleased to welcome a new cohort of eight First Nation – municipal partnerships from across Canada to participate in the program. As an evolution of the program, and in order to best suit the needs of each selected partnership, Phase 3 is offering two program streams: the three-year standard and a two-year accelerated participation option.

Demand for the CEDI program remains very high and with resources to support only eight First Nation-municipal partnerships, the CEDI program was overwhelmed with twenty-eight joint applications from 34 First Nations (including 1 Tribal Administration) and 34 local governments (including municipalities, counties, and regional districts) from across Canada. We continue to work hard to identify sufficient funding mechanisms to meet this overwhelming demand for support from First Nation-municipal partnerships. 

 

Benefits of Joint First Nation-Municipal CED

Joint CED promotes reconciliation, collaboration and the recognition of common values and goals. Other benefits include:  

  • A stronger, united voice for engaging with businesses and other levels of government.
  • Increased ability to access funding from other levels of government.
  • Stronger regional identity, relationships and sense of place.
  • Cost savings when providing services, due to higher efficiencies and less duplication.
  • More opportunities for local business development and jobs.
  • Ability to leverage the unique financial, human and physical capacities of each partner.
  • Coordinated planning efforts to improve land use and land management (to make room for growing populations and to attract new investors and citizens).
  • Coordinated planning efforts to aid in protecting resources and natural environments that are important to partner communities.

For More Information

Marissa Lawrence
Senior Program Officer, Cando
Marshall Gallardo
Senior Program Officer, FCM