CEDEC essential for jobs, growth, and long-term prosperity

MONTREAL, March 28, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - In response to today's announcement from Hon. James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, on the renewal of the Roadmap for Canada's Official Languages 2013-2018, CEDEC is pleased to share that it will be well positioned to continue creating entrepreneurial communities and strengthening the labour force.

"Today's announcement outlining the scope of the renewed Roadmap for Canada's Official Languages sends an important signal that our efforts, and those of our colleagues RDÉE Canada, to contribute to Canada's prosperity through business development, job growth and community economic development are recognized as achieving results," said John Buck, Executive Director of CEDEC.

As part of the Government of Canada's Economic Action Plan 2013, the Roadmap for Canada's Official Languages 2013-2018 was confirmed as a continued priority to strengthen Canada's economy through strategic investments in Official Language Minority Communities (OLMCs) of Canada.

During the 2008-2013 Roadmap CEDEC effectively supported communities to innovate, thrive and become more resilient through the execution of well-planned projects supported with meaningful partnerships. Small businesses benefited as well from support through the CEDEC Small Business Support Network (SBSN).

CEDEC SBSN is the only resource actively connecting English-speaking small business owners across Quebec. CEDEC SBSN supports small businesses by providing access to networking, professional development, and personalized services enabling them to be more competitive in the global economy. CEDEC is also positioned to support businesses to navigate the language, legal, and jurisdiction opportunities that are unique to Quebec in order to facilitate new economic development initiatives and partnerships across Canada.

"In 2012, entrepreneurs represented only 10.2% of Quebec's population compared to 17.5% in the rest of Canada. Clearly, there is still a lot of work to do to support the development of small businesses in Quebec and CEDEC will continue to focus on results based on the sustained contributions available through the renewed Roadmap announced today," said Buck. "Partnerships are critical to our work, even more now as we seek additional ways to leverage the resources available in the Roadmap for Canada's Official Languages for 2013-2018, as well as those announced in the Economic Action Plan 2013 last week."

Strong businesses also require a strong labour force. Quebec's highly bilingual and multilingual labour force is a key opportunity yet to be fully tapped. To ensure that Canada is competitive in a global economy, CEDEC works with strategic partners to address labour force opportunities and to identify the training, skills, and investments required for workers' full participation and alignment with labour market demands.

On-going support for efforts such as these is essential if we are to continue to make a positive impact on the development of an entrepreneurial culture in Quebec for innovation, productivity, economic growth and, ultimately, wealth creation,

CEDEC is a leading partner and driving force for community economic development and employability.  A volunteer-driven organization, CEDEC sparks economic innovation in building forward-looking, prosperous and confident communities across Quebec through sharing expertise, knowledge and building partnerships.

SOURCE: CEDEC

Kirsten Hathaway
Communications Officer
514.755.7043
[email protected]
www.cedec.ca