This publication was produced by the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE), led by Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, Director, as part of the programme of work of the Regional Development Policy Committee (RDPC). The OECD would like to thank the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor), the Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED), the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario (FedNor) and Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan) for their generous financial contribution and in‑kind support. The OECD would also like to thank Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan) for their support. Furthermore, the OECD is grateful for the co-ordination work carried out by FedDev and PacifiCan.
This publication was co-ordinated by Michelle Marshalian, Economist and Project Manager, under the supervision of Jose Enrique Garcilazo, Deputy Head. The report also greatly benefitted from valuable guidance from Nadim Ahmad, Deputy Director of the CFE. Chapter 1 was drafted by Michelle Marshalian. Chapter 2 was drafted by Michelle Marshalian, with analytical support from Jiang Beryl Li (ISED), Bassirou Gueye (Statistics Canada), Philip Chan and Maximilian Günnewig-Mönert (OECD). Chapter 3 was drafted by Michelle Marshalian and David Freshwater (external expert) with support from Tamara Krawchenko (University of Victoria, Canada). Chapter 4 was drafted by Lisanne Raderschall (previously OECD) with support from Maximilian Günnewig-Mönert (previously OECD), Alexandre Banquet, Bridget Donovan and Jolien Neils (OECD). Support for generating maps was provided by Felix Winkelmayer (OECD).
This report benefitted from valuable comments and input from the OECD Enhancing Rural Innovation academic and business expert group and from several consultations with local teams, including substantial input from colleagues at the ACOA, CanNor, CED, FedDev Ontario, FedNor and PrairiesCan, as well as colleagues from Statistics Canada, including Alessandro Alessia, Chair of the OECD Working Party for Territorial Indicators. Stéphane Pronovost (CanNor), Isis Bozzano Bae and Gareth Hitchings (FedDev Ontario) provided critical co‑ordination support throughout the majority of the collaboration, and Serge Desroches and Zoé Perin-Levasseur (CED) provided support for the special issues chapter on climate. Rory Brennan and Dianna Leonardo (FedDev Ontario), Megan Foster and Christopher Knoch (PacifiCan) provided final co-ordination and comments. Marie-France Chouinard (Canadian permanent delegation to the OECD) provided continuous support for co‑ordination and comments. In addition, the report benefitted from six physical consultations with local stakeholders in Emerald Park and Regina (Saskatchewan), Inuvik (Northwest Territories), Fogo Island (Newfoundland and Labrador), the Gaspé Peninsula (Quebec), Kenora and Kincardine (Ontario), as well as multiple virtual focus group consultations.
Jeanette Duboys and Roxana Glavanov prepared the manuscript for publication and Pilar Philip co‑ordinated the production process. Professional editing and formatting were conducted by Eleonore Morena. Translation services in French were reviewed by Miantsa Razafindramanana (DEC).
The OECD Secretariat thanks the delegates to the RDPC for their valuable input. This work is a part of the series of reports in the OECD Enhancing Rural Innovation project. It supports the implementation of the mandate of the OECD Working Party for Rural Policy and the RDPC. The chapters of the report were formally approved by written procedure on 4 December 2023 [CFE/RDPC/RUR(2023)18] and the Assessment and Recommendations on 16 January 2024 [CFE/RDPC/RUR(2023)18/ANN1].