June 8, 2026 – Communities across British Columbia’s Southern Interior are set to benefit from a new round of investment through the Economic Trust of the Southern Interior. On June 5, 2026, ETSI-BC approved $1,011,000 in funding for 33 projects, representing a combined project value of $3 million. The funded initiatives will help communities diversify their local economies, support innovation, and respond to regional opportunities
ETSI-BC Launches EDD, the Economic Dependencies Dashboard
The Economic Trust of the Southern Interior (ETSI-BC) has introduced a new economic visualization tool, named EDD – the Economic Dependencies Dashboard. Launched in June 2024, EDD provides economic insights at three different levels: for the Southern Interior as a whole, for each of 8 regional districts in our service area, and combining our region’s communities (including First Nations) into 32 ‘local areas’.
EDD aims to help residents, economic development practitioners, and local governments understand the impact of economic changes and industry transitions in their communities. The tool was developed for ETSI-BC by CityViz, a data visualization company. It utilizes Statistics Canada Census data (2016 and 2021) combined with the BC Stats proprietary macroeconomic model, licensed to ETSI-BC for non-commercial purposes.
Key features of EDD include:
- Visualization of economic data at regional, district, and local levels
- Analysis of industry diversity, location quotients, and employment impact ratios
- Insights into population changes, job distribution, and income dependencies
- Forest sector vulnerability index
The dashboard offers both current snapshots and five-year change data, allowing users to track economic trends over time. It provides a range of indicators, from basic population and job data to more complex economic metrics such as industry diversity indices and local supply shares.
EDD is designed to be user-friendly, featuring drop-down menus, printable graphics, and easy comparisons. It also allows for the download of raw data for custom analysis. You can explore the EDD tool to gain a deeper understanding of the Southern Interior’s economic landscape and to inform decision-making processes.
“We are pleased to partner with Cityviz on this project,” says Laurel Douglas, CEO, ETSI-BC. “EDD will help our communities and regional districts better understand their economic landscape, supporting more informed decision-making and strategic planning.”
Economist Mike Stolte, who is President of the CIEL and author of the EDD User Guide enthusiastically noted, “This dashboard is unique in Canada and speaking on behalf of the region’s economic development practitioners, we are very impressed with EDD and leadership that ETSI-BC has shown through this project.”
Join us on September 18, 1:30-2:30 Pacific time where the ETSI-BC team, assisted by CityViz and CIEL demonstrate how to use this dashboard. REGISTER HERE
We invite you to explore EDD, the Economic Dependencies Dashboard today and discover more about the economic dynamics of our region.
More News & Stories
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