This past year, Grande Prairie was again ranked among Canada’s top 10 Most Entrepreneurial Communities in Canada by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). The CFIB compiles this list by rating 120 cities / economic regions across the country on how they support and promote entrepreneurship based on 14 ‘indictors’. This time round, Grande Prairie was positioned in 6th place.

CFIB vice-president and chief economist Ted Mallett described how many resource-rich communities like Grande Prairie topped this list this year thanks to not only their resources, but also the fact that “being entrepreneurial has always been a deep-seated part of the psyche and culture of these areas … while each city has its own story of development and growth, one thing they all have in common is the entrepreneurial spirit that built them.”

If you are entrepreneurially-minded yourself and want to start your own business, Grande Prairie City Government has 7-step online checklist to help you get going.

Also on their site is a list of some of the advantages of investing in the region, including a 4% growth rate, an industrial attraction strategy and no provincial sales tax.

Finally, the Community Futures Grande Prairie office is great resource, providing small business services and business management tools for people wanting to start, expand, franchise or sell a business.