People

Kent Butt is an economist at CEPA. Since joining the firm in 2025, Kent has worked in the transport sector, contributing econometric analysis and quantitative research. Kent has worked on expenditure efficiency assessments and strategic business planning for a major airport. Supporting the Department for Transport, Kent has contributed to identifying causal estimates of how station investments influence local economic outcomes and spatial development. He also worked on research assessing the output elasticity of transportation investment, writing econometric code and performing quality assurance.

Before joining CEPA, Kent worked at the Workers' Compensation Board of Alberta, where he conducted cost-benefit analysis of machine learning (AI) driven processes for workplace injury intervention and worked on AI ethics and bias assessments. He also worked as an economics research assistant for Agriculture Canada, analysing the economic and environmental trade-offs of different crop rotation strategies.

Kent holds an MSc in Local Economic Development from the London School of Economics, with a dissertation studying economic recovery post wildfire. He received an MSc in Mathematics and Statistics, specializing in modelling, data, and predictions from the University of Alberta, where he also completed his undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Economics.