ecbc was established in 1987 to provide a specific geographic focus for the federal government's regional economic development initiatives in the economically depressed region which was undergoing an adjustment from a resource-based economy centred on the coal and steel industries. the town of mulgrave, on peninsular nova scotia was added, since the town had undergone dramatic decline following its bypass as a ferry port and railway hub with the 1955 opening of the canso causeway.