The records in this accession were created and/or maintained by the Ministry of State for Economic Development (MSED). The file blocks are from the 1600 file block "Program Organizaton and Delivery", including: 1600 - "Improving Program Organization and Delivery"; 1605 - "ABC/Aide Handbook"; and, 1610 - "Business Information Centres"; 1615 - "Program Delivery"; 1620 - "Program Consolidations"; and, 1625 - "Functional Area Studies".
These files document MSED's attempt to streamline and consolidate different economic programs across the government into single, unified economic development programs.
The Improving Program Organization and Delivery files were generated by the Ministry of State for Economic Development, and include research, background papers, policy papers, etc, for discussion at the Cabinet Committee on Economic Development. Similarly, the files from file blocks 1615, 1620, and 1625 consist of research and background papers on issues related to improving the organization and delivery of economic development project.
The ABC/Aide Handbook was a book documenting the range of services and financial assistance provided by the federal government which were hitherto uncollated in any central location. The handbook was created to describe federal economic development programs, services and tax incentives from a business point of view, and to make all relevant information in a single spot (the handbook). It was first published in April 1979. The files related to this handbook document the creation and development of the handbook.
The Business Information Centres were developed as a result of recommendations from the Enterprise Canada '77 exercise, which indicated that the private sector lacked an understanding and/or knowledge of government policies and programs, were unaware of how to obtain information about government programs and policies, and were inhibited about dealing with the government bureaucracy. On March 1, 1978, the Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce opened a Business Centre in Ottawa to serve as a single access point for the private sector to obtain business related information on all government programs. Following the success of the Ottawa centre, more business centres were set up regionally across Canada. The files in this accession relate to the creation and development of the Business Information Centres.
