About

The Centre for Entrepreneurship & Family Enterprise (CEFE) is located within the Alberta School of Business at the University of Alberta.

Family firms are the dominant form of economic organization worldwide. It is vital to understand their exceptional dynamics to arm policymakers, educators, advisors, managers and consultants with the knowledge they need to help family firms succeed. The right information will lead to the right solutions and ultimately help improve the success rate of family firms and their contribution to local, national and global economies.

In 1999, through a generous endowment by an anonymous business family, CEFE was created to vigorously pursue a mandate of developing and disseminating knowledge relative to the many complex dimensions of family business particularly in the contexts of entrepreneurship and internationalization.

Through CEFE, our internationally-recognized scholars explore how family nurtures entrepreneurial activities and recognize that family firms - and the degree to which they are entrepreneurial - directly affect the wealth and poverty of nations.

From a Major/Minor in Family Enterprise and Entrepreneurship in the BCom program right up to PhD research guided by the world's leading researchers, our education programs are second to none. Students further benefit from substantial scholarships, visiting speakers, international field trips, and individual course offerings in family business and entrepreneurship.

CEFE also works closely with the Alberta Business Family Institute which provides educational programs for families.