History of the project

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The Certification Process for the Aboriginal Economic Development Officers project will bring certification to a key role in Aboriginal governments.

The project responds to a great demand for qualified economic development officers in Native communities across Canada. Many Aboriginal bands are currently forced to hire from outside their own communities to augment the skills of existing EDOs.

As the fastest growing segment of the Canadian population, Aboriginal people are experiencing a rapid change in their society. As Aboriginal communities move toward self-government, there is a growing need to strengthen and develop their economies to become more self-sufficient. The economic development officer has a key role to play. They are responsible for negotiating deals that will dramatically affect the life of each member of their community. They must have the skills and expertise to deal with governments and private corporations.

Designed and carried out by Aboriginal people, their certification process will build on the standard and provide a complete curriculum review for the Aboriginal Economic Development Officer. It will help to ensure that all Native Economic Development Officers have the necessary skills and knowledge to carry out their positions.

Part of the project will involve promoting the certification process to EDOs, the corporate sector, band leaders and the academic community.

This project represents a strong partnership between economic development officers, corporate representatives, Aboriginal leaders, CANDO, levels of government and the academic community. One of its overriding goals is that these partnerships will lead to more qualified Aboriginal people occupying the position of economic development officer both in Aboriginal community and organizations and in corporations dealing with Aboriginal communities.

Partnerships have also been developed to promote this project to Native leaders throughout North America through the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development.

This project will include an employment equity component to ensure that any curriculum that is developed and any promotional materials prepared are gender neutral and do not creat unintended barriers for any member of the Aboriginal community.

CANDO is a professional development association of economic development officers working in Native communities.