Colin Barry
Meet our team
Colin Barry, Manager of Cabinet Affairs, Senior Policy Advisor for Trade, Ottawa, Ont.
When the snow flies, spring winds blow, and crisp fall days unfold, you’ll find Colin Barry happily at work as Manager of Cabinet Affairs, Senior Policy Advisor for Trade in ACOA’s Ottawa office. When the summer sun shines, however, you’ll find Colin in a cottage in Arisaig, N.S., a small fishing village on the Northumberland Strait about 25 minutes outside of Antigonish. “I grew up in Antigonish, and I come home every year for holidays.”
When he’s not soaking up the sunshine on Nova Scotia’s northeastern coast, Colin is busy helping to coordinate cabinet briefings for ACOA’s minister and working on trade policy issues. “Our work in cabinet affairs and our advocacy with other government departments helps to ensure that unique economic issues from the region are known and accounted for when developing policy. This creates better programs for businesses and workers in the region.”
In addition to providing funding to assist people to start or expand their businesses, ACOA is a lightning rod for collaboration, he adds. “The agency plays an important role in bringing various stakeholders together to help the regional economy grow.”
Colin, who received his Master's in Public Administration from Carleton University, has more than 25 years’ experience working with the federal public service, including Environment and Climate Change Canada, Natural Resources Canada, and even the Consulate General in Chicago. He was recently part of the team that drafted the Omnibus Budget 2021 Treasury Board submission. “It was really rewarding to work with so many people both within ACOA as well as across all regional development agencies to produce such a large submission in such a short period of time.”
As someone with one foot in the Atlantic region and the other in the centre of government, Colin has a unique perspective on ACOA’s role. “I’ve seen ACOA’s approach evolve and grow to become much more strategic, particularly in bringing together a wide variety of stakeholders on a number of important economic issues from broadband to advanced manufacturing to coastal communities.”