Getting Ready to use the CEA Tools

• Begin Using the CEA Tools

Successful strategies for economic development build on your community or region's economic strengths and potential - your "competitive advantage". Identifying local competitive advantages involves collecting and analyzing data about the local economy - including labour force attributes, infrastructure and service capacity and the size and performance of local industries, compared to other communities. Transforming this knowledge into strategies involves weighing what the community has against what is needed to support new industries or to retain and expand existing businesses.

This section of REDDI features interactive, analytical tools for assessing the relative strengths and weaknesses of industries/sectors. The tools use a five-step process, which will enable you to choose the specific community or region, the industry, year(s), type of analysis, and report format. A tutorial or guide to using these tools is available (below), which should be reviewed prior to using the tools.

If you are familiar with the tools and would like to get started, you can begin using the CEA Tools by clicking the link at the top right of the screen in this section of REDDI.

• How to Use the CEA Tools - the In-depth Guide (Tutorial)

Click on the link above to reach the detailed guide or tutorial on the analytical tools. This tutorial provides illustrations of what you will see at each step, as well as an explanation of each type of analysis, including the source data, formulae, terminology, uses, and limitations. It is advisable to review the tutorial prior to using the analytical tools. Alternatively, you can open the tutorial in a separate browser window and refer to it as you work through the analytical tools.

Contact Us for more information on the contents of this section.