In Small Business and the City, Rafael Gomez, Andre Isakov, and Matt Semansky highlight the power of small-scale entrepreneurship to transform local neighbourhoods and the cities they inhabit. Studying the factors which enable small businesses to survive and thrive, they highlight the success of a Canadian concept which has spread worldwide: the Business Improvement Area (BIA). BIAs allow small-scale entrepreneurs to pool their resources with like-minded businesses, becoming sourc...

In recent years, the young, educated, and affluent have surged back into cities, reversing decades of suburban flight and urban decline. And yet all is not well, Richard Florida argues in The New Urban Crisis. Florida, one of the first scholars to anticipate this back-to-the-city movement in his groundbreaking The Rise of the Creative Class, demonstrates how the same forces that power the growth of the world's superstar cities also generate their vexing challenges: gentri...

A degree is no longer a passport to success in today’s job market.Going to university used to be a passport to future success, but that’s no longer the case. For some students, it’s still a good choice that leads to a successful career after graduation, but for many their degrees are worthless pieces of paper. Choose the wrong program and graduation is more likely to lead to disillusionment and debt than a steady paycheque.Yet parents, guidance counselors, and politicians s...

In Understanding the Social Economy, Jack Quarter, Laurie Mook, and Ann Armstrong integrate a wide array of organizations founded upon a social mission - social enterprises, nonprofits, co-operatives, credit unions, and community development associations - under the rubric of the 'social economy.' This framework facilitates a comprehensive study of Canada's social sector, an area often neglected in the business curricula despite the important role that these organizations play in ...

Two professors look at the mystique around universities and the consequences of “credentialism.”For decades, we have promoted the idea that a university degree is a passport to future career success. Ken Coates and Bill Morrison argue that the over-promotion of higher education and university degrees is actually undermining the lives of young people, saddling them with enormous debts, and costing governments huge amounts of money.As the young flock to unive...

Praise for Made in Canada Leadership"As an energy delivery company that takes great pride in our commitment to sustainable development, Enbridge recognizes that the leading, sustainable corporations of tomorrow must create an internal culture where leadership is fostered and nurtured at all levels. Made in Canada Leadership provides the roadmap for corporations seeking to secure their long-term future as industry leaders through the development an...

The exceptional, winding path of a man who is inseparable from the empire he builtCombining a tobacconist, newstand, food mart, beer shop and general store, the convenience store has undergone many transformations over the last 35 years, ever since a man decided to turn it into his life's business. That man is Alain Bouchard. Strangely, few people know his name, even in Quebec, where he lives. He is, however, one of Canada's wealthiest entrepreneurs, as well as one of the most peer...

*Equal parts inspiration, perspiration, and information -- a book that is sure to take the Vibrant Communities story to new heights as it begins its next exciting phase.*In Canada, "poverty reduction" is no longer a "wouldn't it be nice" dream discussed after yet another failure to make a dent in an age-old problem. It's a living, breathing, exhilarating reality.Why?Because all across the country people are approaching poverty in a positive, creative, and energetic way. The...

How cities can build on the “sharing economy” and smart technology to deliver a “sharing paradigm” that supports justice, solidarity, and sustainability.The future of humanity is urban, and the nature of urban space enables, and necessitates, sharing—of resources, goods and services, experiences. Yet traditional forms of sharing have been undermined in modern cities by social fragmentation and commercialization of the public realm. In Sharing Cities, Dunca...

Are Museums Irrelevant?Museums are rarely acknowledged in the global discussion of climate change, environmental degradation, the inevitability of depleted fossil fuels, and the myriad local issues concerning the well-being of particular communities – suggesting the irrelevance of museums as social institutions. At the same time, there is a growing preoccupation among museums with the marketplace, and museums, unwittingly or not, are embracing the values o...

Across the US, cities and metropolitan areas are facing huge economic and competitive challenges that Washington won't, or can't, solve. The good news is that networks of metropolitan leaders mayors, business and labor leaders, educators, and philanthropists are stepping up and powering the nation forward. These state and local leaders are doing the hard work to grow more jobs and make their communities more prosperous, and they're investing in infrastructure, making manufacturing a pr...

Taking Responsibility for Tourism is about the globally vital necessity of realising sustainable tourism. It is a hugely important challenge to those who organise and sell travel and tourism, and those who consume it. Taking Responsibility for Tourism is not a book about a niche product; major trade associations and large and small tour operators are committing to the objectives of responsible tourism and shouldering their responsibilities. This powerful new handbook is the most authoritat...