There are currently ten community economic development corporations (CDECs) on the Island of Montreal, working in neighbourhoods affected by poverty and deindustrialization. The first CDECs were initiated in the 1980s in Montreal’s south-western, eastern, and south central districts. In the early 1990s, seven other Montreal districts adopted the same model.

CDECs come from the desire of local players (businesses, community organizations, institutions, labour unions, and the general population) to take control of the economic and social renewal of the milieu. CDECs have a dual mission of economic as well as social development : they offer support for the start-up, consolidation, and development of businesses in order to create employment, and foster the development of local manpower, particularly the integration of unemployed persons into the work force.

At the heart of a CDEC's actions are the coordination of the principal socio-economic players in the context of local developpement. To this end, the board of directors of a CDEC is made up of representatives elected from several electoral colleges (business, community, institutions, labour unions, residents, employees, borough). This model encourages civic participation and enables a CDEC to develop strong partnerships and provide leadership on local issues.

The CDEC CDN/NDG came into being on the 1st day on December, 1992 at the occasion of its founding general assembly. Members elected 22 representatives to form the first board of directors. At that time the CDEC had only two permanent employees, but the next year, after receiving a budget from the FAMO (Fonds d'adaptation de la main-d'oeuvre), four employment professionals joined the Corporation.

Two years later the Quebec Minister of Industry and Commerce granted additional funds to hire an economic development agent. Finally, on the 8th of June 1998, the Quebec Minister of the Métropole and the City of Montreal accredited the CDEC CDN/NDG with a mandate from the Centre local de developpement de Montreal (CLD Montreal) to establish a one-stop shop for businesses in the neighbourhood in collaboration with local partners working in the field of economic development.

Economic Development Canada followed by supporting the CDEC's efforts to develop new services to business. At present, the CDEC employs 14 employees full time with an operating budget of nearly $1,000,000 in order to offer free services in the areas of job creation and manpower development.