What Happens When a Community Decides Its Own Future
Most economic development happens to communities, not with them. Developers propose projects, businesses arrive or depart, policy changes trickle down from provincial and federal governments. Communities react, adapt, cope. But what if it worked differently? What if communities could proactively shape their own economic future based on what residents actually value and want?
That’s the question at the heart of Thrive PEC, a collaborative initiative in Prince Edward County that’s rewriting the script on rural development. And Community Futures has been there from the beginning, working alongside The County Foundation and the municipality to turn this experiment in community-driven development into reality.
The story starts several years ago, when Prince Edward County was selected as one of five Canadian communities to participate in a national pilot program led by the Shorefast Foundation and its founder, Zita Cobb. The program was built around a deceptively simple idea: communities have assets—people, places, traditions, knowledge—and if you start by identifying and building on those assets rather than fixating on problems and deficits, you create a very different kind of development.
“Instead of asking ‘what’s wrong with our community?’ we asked ‘what do we have that’s special? What would we miss if it disappeared? What do we want this place to look like in ten years?’ Those questions led to very different conversations.”
Those conversations happened on a significant scale. A symposium brought together 150 people. Consultations reached more than 400 community members. The process was deliberately inclusive, designed to hear from residents across the county, not just the usual voices that show up at public meetings.
What emerged from all that listening was a clear sense of community priorities. People valued the agricultural character of the county. They valued the arts and culture scene. They valued the tight-knit social fabric. And they wanted growth that enhanced rather than eroded those qualities.
But here’s where Thrive PEC gets interesting: it didn’t stop at creating a vision document that would gather dust on a shelf. The partnership created mechanisms to actually influence development as it happens.
The community benefit network is perhaps the most innovative piece. Prince Edward County became one of the first rural communities in Canada to develop a framework for community benefit agreements—essentially, structured ways for development projects to contribute to community priorities.
“When a major development is proposed, we ask: how can this project benefit the broader community, not just the developer? Maybe that means hiring and training local workers. Maybe it means affordable housing components. Maybe it means protecting green space or contributing to community infrastructure. The specifics vary, but the principle is consistent: development should serve the community, not the other way around.”
Community Futures’ role in this work has been multifaceted. There’s the organizational capacity—helping coordinate partners, manage projects, provide strategic guidance. There’s the network—connecting Thrive PEC with businesses, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders. And there’s the commitment to ensuring economic development serves community well-being, not just growth for its own sake.
“We’ve always understood that healthy communities and healthy economies go hand in hand. Thrive PEC gives us a framework to put that belief into practice. We’re not just supporting individual businesses—we’re helping shape an economic ecosystem that works for everyone.”
The partnership model itself is worth noting. Thrive PEC operates as a collective impact initiative—multiple organizations working toward shared goals with coordinated strategies. It’s not always easy. Different partners bring different perspectives, different constituencies, different strengths. But the collaboration has proven remarkably resilient.
“Having Community Futures at the table has been crucial. They bring deep understanding of local business realities, connections across the region, and practical expertise in making things happen. They’re not just talking about community development—they’re doing it every day.”
The work continues to evolve. Recent consultations—including public sessions in 2024 and stakeholder meetings with various community organizations—are informing the next phase of the community benefits framework. There’s also increasing recognition of how educational institutions, particularly community colleges, can support these goals through training programs aligned with community needs.
Community Futures remains committed to this vision, bringing resources, expertise, and a genuine belief that communities can and should determine their own economic futures. As Prince Edward County continues to grow and change, Thrive PEC provides a model for ensuring that growth benefits everyone, that no one gets left behind, and that the qualities that make a community special are preserved even as it evolves.
It’s ambitious work. It’s complex work. But it’s also essential work—the kind that builds not just economies, but communities worth living in for generations to come.
