Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development

What Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development does

Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development (PKED) is the economic development department of the City of Peterborough, a municipal government entity in Ontario, Canada. Operating from City Hall at 500 George St. N., PKED delivers three primary services: a Community Profile that aggregates regional demographic, economic, and infrastructure data for prospective investors; Business Supports and Resources that route businesses to municipal permits, licenses, grants, and Community Improvement Plan incentives; and a Physician Recruitment program designed to attract and retain healthcare professionals to the region. The department is led by President & CEO Rhonda Keenan under the oversight of the Mayor and City Council.

The organization is publicly funded through municipal taxation rather than commercial pricing, and serves as the primary government channel for business attraction, relocation, expansion, and workforce development within the Peterborough and Kawarthas region. Its customer base is horizontal — business investors and expansions, physicians and healthcare providers, and small business owners — with no named anchor accounts disclosed. Marketing and outreach are conducted through organic social channels (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram), the City website, a Community Profile content asset, and a direct contact form. Geographically, the department positions Peterborough as a satellite growth market within approximately one hour drive time of the Greater Toronto Area and promotes a projected 50% regional population growth by 2051 alongside a 47.6% concentration of regional jobs in key sector industries.

The technology stack is intentionally minimal and consistent with a public-sector economic development office: no proprietary software products, no APIs or SDKs, no AI/ML capabilities, and no commercial integrations are disclosed. Revenue mechanics do not apply in the conventional sense, as services are tax-funded. The department's competitive position is anchored in its statutory municipal mandate, embedded access to City of Peterborough infrastructure, and the unique regional data it compiles — none of which is replicable by private-sector competitors operating within the same jurisdiction.

Name

Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development

Legal name

City of Peterborough

Website

https://investptbo.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1850

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development is the municipal economic development department of the City of Peterborough, Ontario. It provides business attraction, expansion support, regional data via its Community Profile, and physician recruitment services to prospective investors, local businesses, and healthcare professionals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Economic Development Services

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Economic Development & Business Licensing (Local) (BPAIACAN)

Keywords

• Economic development services
• Business attraction support
• Physician recruitment services
• Community profile data
• Municipal business resources

Headquarters

HQ city

Peterborough

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development provides municipal economic development services to attract, retain, and expand businesses in the Peterborough region of Ontario, Canada. Its core offerings are organized into three main programs: a Community Profile delivering regional demographic and economic data, Business Supports and Resources covering company attraction, relocation, start-up, expansion, tourism, innovation, and agriculture development, and Physician Recruitment to address regional healthcare workforce needs.

Product overview

Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development is a municipal economic development initiative operated by the City of Peterborough. The organization offers three primary service offerings: a Community Profile providing regional data and location advantages for businesses, Business Supports and Resources offering guidance on permits and development incentives, and a Physician Recruitment program to attract healthcare professionals. These services collectively aim to promote business investment and economic growth in the Peterborough region.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Community Profile

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Invest Ottawa: Ottawa's municipal economic development and investment attraction agency. Directly comparable to PKED as a Canadian city-level EDO supporting business attraction, expansion, and startup activity in a regional economy.
• Toronto Global: Toronto's foreign direct investment and talent attraction agency. Comparable mission of attracting businesses and investment to a Canadian city-region, though operating at a larger scale and with an international FDI focus.
• Invest WindsorEssex: Regional economic development organization for Windsor-Essex, Ontario. Comparable as a Canadian municipal/regional EDO focused on investment attraction, sector development, and workforce initiatives in a secondary market.
• Calgary Economic Development: Calgary's economic development agency. Performs the same core functions as PKED — business attraction, retention, expansion, and sector strategy — but at a much larger city scale in Western Canada.
• Hamilton Economic Development: City of Hamilton's economic development division, supporting business retention, expansion, and attraction in a Southern Ontario regional economy near the GTA. Closely analogous mandate and structure to PKED.
• Vancouver Economic Commission: City of Vancouver's economic development arm. Comparable mandate around business climate, sector strategy, and economic resilience for a major Canadian city.

Broad incumbents

• Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC): Canada's federal development bank providing financing and advisory to Canadian entrepreneurs. Overlaps with PKED's small business support and growth advisory role, but as a federal Crown corporation rather than a municipal entity.

Emerging players

• Communitech: Waterloo Region innovation hub supporting startups, scale-ups, and tech ecosystem growth. Comparable in the innovation/startup support portion of PKED's mandate, though specializing in tech rather than broad economic development.

Regional players

• Invest Alberta: Alberta's provincial investment attraction agency. Comparable investment attraction mandate, but operating at provincial scale rather than municipal, and focused on a different Canadian region.
• Peterborough DBIA (Downtown Business Improvement Area): Local business improvement area within Peterborough that supports downtown commercial activity. Complementary to PKED's mandate of business retention and small business support in the same city.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/PtboEcDev
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/peterborougheconomicdevelopment
• Instagraminstagram.com/cityptbo
• Xx.com/PtboEcDev

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development