The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Secretary of State for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Premier Pat Binns today unveiled details of a new federal-provincial regional economic development agreement, declaring it to be a "valuable new tool in achieving our long-term goal of creating more and better jobs and dynamic businesses across the province."
The Canada/Prince Edward Island Agreement on Regional Economic Development is a five-year plan (1996-2001) with broad goals: encourage greater cooperation and the formation of more strategic alliances among all stakeholders in the economy; expand the competitive capabilities of the province; prepare the Island to capitalize on new export and market opportunities; improve infrastructure necessary for successful economic development; promote better coordination between the public and private sectors; and foster development of new, innovative technologies.
"This is a new framework that supports and underscores the importance of economic development in Prince Edward Island," Mr. MacAulay said. "This agreement will enable government resources to be delivered and targeted even more toward the needs of existing and emerging sectors than in the past."
Premier Binns said, "it's critical that island businesses benefit from our support for long-term development of the Island economy. This type of support will generate real jobs and real opportunities for wealth creation."
The agreement consolidates and replaces two former COOPERATION (both of which were completed in 1996), bringing the total value of the new agreement to $32,228,571, including approximately $20.0 million in additional funding. The funds will be cost-shared on a 70:30 basis between the federal and provincial governments.
The new single agreement is designed, in part, to harmonize and integrate federal and provincial economic development efforts in the province, and eliminate duplication in federal and provincial programming. Its central purpose, however, is to help position Island businesses and communities to exploit new commercial opportunities both at home and abroad.
Specifically, the agreement identifies seven economic development areas and establishes support programs for each: Strategic Infrastructure, Tourism-related Strategic Infrastructure, Educational Support Strategic Development, Community Economic Development, Export Trade Development and Development Prospecting, Planning and Primary Resource Development.
Under Strategic Infrastructure support will be provided to industrial, technological and informatics/software development projects. Examples of eligible projects include: waste-water treatment facilities, three-phase power plants, and information technologies.
Tourism-related Strategic Infrastructure will involve support to develop and promote new, and economically promising, types of tourism, including those that extend the tourist season. Eligible activities include: "green tourism" (ecological tours, Rails-to-Trails hiking, etc.), soft adventures (sea kayaking, and snowmobiling), and special events.
Educational Support Strategic Development will support education and training that enhance the development of knowledge-based industries; management and entrepreneurship training and development. The program will also work to bring new technology products and services into commercial application.
Community Economic Development will support recently consolidated rural economic development organizations in the province, enabling them to fulfill their mandates to build strong, economically diverse communities.
Export Trade Development and Development Prospecting will be bolstered to support new market and trade-related identification, entry and expansion for businesses in the province.
The Planning Program will support economic development research, planning and related initiatives. Finally, the Primary Resource Development Program will deliver support to the province's resource-based industries under four sub-programs: Strategic Market Planning, Human Resource Development and Quality Enhancement, Strategic Opportunities, and Integrated Resource Management.
For more information contact: Lynne Sherren, ACOA at (902) 566-7485 or Sheri Coles, Economic Development & Tourism at (902) 368-6326