Depleted communities are a persistent feature of late capitalism. They can be seen as areas that have lost much of their economic rationale as space, while retaining high attachments and social relations of place. While conditions in depleted communities can limit possibilities for traditional development, entrepreneurial responses are not similarly constrained. It is argued here that depleted communities can act as hosts to a unique form of enterprise that combines good business practices with community goals. We refer to this as community business entrepreneurship and argue that it is similar to, but distinct from, the traditional entrepreneurial process. To illustrate these ideas three cases are examined. Within the setting of the depleted community, the entrepreneurial process can be modified to pursue community goals, thereby creating new opportunities and making new forms of development possible.

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(1) Background: In the face of persistent and chronically weak labour markets, Atlantic Canada has become increasingly dependent on mobile oil work in Northern Alberta for employment and income. In the regions, most intensely engaged in this form of employment, mobile oil work has largely replaced the dominant industries of the previous century. This geographic shift in Canadian investment and production has created uneven labour markets, with high demand for labour in the Northern Alberta and high unemployment in de-industrialized communities in Atlantic Canada. (2) Methods: There is little quantitative evidence on the flows of mobile workers from the East to the West and the impact of this movement on the Atlantic Canadian economy. Data for this paper were obtained through a special arrangement with Statistics Canada in the fall of 2015 and winter of 2016, from the Canadian Employer–Employee Dynamics Database (CEEDD). (3) Results: Analysis of CEEDD revealed that the oil and gas industry of Northern Alberta has a significant impact on the economies of Atlantic Canada with an increasing dependence for interprovincial workers. (4) Conclusions: To the extent that mobile work has served as a replacement for traditional industries, mobile work is re-structuring the social and economic makeup of Atlantic Canadian communities. The more reliant Atlantic Canadian communities become on oil-related mobile work, the more precarious their economies will become as global markets for oil and gas change and targeted actions on climate change increase.

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This article explores the history and experience of social enterprise within Atlantic Canada. As part of the International Comparative Social Enterprise Models (ICSEM) research project, this article aims to describe the unique historical, contextual, and conceptual approaches to social enterprise in Atlantic Canada. Four case studies are provided to illustrate the diversity of social enterprise in the region. The article argues that the historical roots of social enterprise in Atlantic Canada can be found within the Antigonish Movement, and that the founding political economic vision of that movement can inform a progressive and transformative approach to social enterprise in the region. Cet article explore l’histoire et la pratique de l’entreprise sociale dans les provinces de l’Atlantique. Écrit dans le cadre du projet ICSEM (« International Comparative Social Enterprise Models »), cet article a pour but de décrire les approches historiques, contextuelles et conceptuelles envers les entreprises sociales propres aux provinces de l’Atlantique. Il présente quatre études de cas afin d’illustrer la diversité des entreprises sociales de la région. L’article soutient que les racines historiques de l’entreprise sociale dans les provinces de l’Atlantique remontent jusqu’au Mouvement d’Antigonish, et que la vision politico-économique fondatrice de ce Mouvement pourrait sous-tendre une approche envers les entreprises sociales de la région qui soit progressiste et transformatrice.