Community economic development is identified as a function in many colleges mission statements. In this study, one colleges role in community economic development was analyzed through the examination of its role in two regions of a provincial college system. The literature review on the historical links between adult education and community development, the growth of community development and community economic development in Canada, the various models used in the practice, and the types of training offered in the field provided a theoretical basis for the study. A case study approach was used to determine the role of the college in community economic development. A document review provided the background information for a series of interviews, which provided the data for the analysis.The main findings are that colleges do have a mandate in community economic development and that this role is achieved through (a) traditional programming, and (b) increasingly through contract training which also generates significant revenues. The other finding is that the colleges traditional role in working at the community level to build community capacity through a bottom-up approach is diminishing as a result of the increasing demands to respond to fiscal challenges.