2014-15 Departmental Performance Report
Ministers’ message and section I

• The Agency approved $48.9 million toward 158 innovation and commercialization projects, including amendments to projects approved in prior fiscal years. This allowed ACOA to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) maximize their growth potential by developing new technologies and improving processes. Examples include:
  • making a $10 million investment through the Atlantic Innovation Fund in early intervention of the spruce budworm infestation using new techniques to prevent its spread, thereby helping protect the wood supply so crucial to numerous businesses in New Brunswick;
  • investing in the establishment of a new Centre for Engineering Design and Industry Partnerships (CEDIP) in the new School of Sustainable Design Engineering at the University of Prince Edward Island. The CEDIP will include an industry collaboration centre, a fab lab (a collaborative workspace with computer-controlled tools to bring ideas to fruition and build prototypes), four Research Centres of Excellence laboratories and four industry-driven clinic projects to address challenges facing Atlantic Canadian SMEs.
• The Agency approved a further $74.1 million in 600 projects that contributed to the productivity and growth of SMEs in Atlantic Canada, including projects related to technology acquisition, expansion and modernization, domestic marketing, productivity and business skills, and business support. Examples include:
  • helping the Entrepreneurs Forum deliver 59 advisory sessions to entrepreneurs across the region, giving them an opportunity to discuss their challenges with business professionals and successful entrepreneurs;
  • supporting the Atlantic Venture Forum, held in Halifax, N.S., where Atlantic Canadian companies in the start-up information technology, clean technology and life sciences sectors were showcased. This event, in its second year, has become a fixture on the calendars of the tech start-up, angel investors and venture capital communities by offering insight into key issues, providing premium networking opportunities and giving companies, most of them ACOA clients, a chance to learn from world-class professionals in the investment community;
  • supporting rural manufacturing in Newfoundland and Labrador with the approval of a $500,000 loan to Superior Glove Works Ltd. to purchase specialized equipment and technologies to increase production capacity and enhance global competitiveness at its glove manufacturing facility in Point Leamington.
• ACOA displayed leadership in assisting businesses to expand into the global marketplace by approving $14.8 million in 158 international business development activities, including support for an Atlantic Canadian delegation of 21 companies, universities and research organizations to attend the BIO 2014 International Convention held in San Diego, Calif. Delegates participated in over 125 prescheduled meetings, with initial results showing immediate sales of $1.9 million and anticipated sales of $5.2 million.
• ACOA worked with Statistics Canada to produce an enhanced Survey of Innovation and Business Financing, thereby broadening the understanding of Atlantic Canada firms’ business strategies, innovation activities and involvement in global value chains.
• ACOA worked with other government partners and industry stakeholders to identify opportunities to enhance market access for SMEs in order to maximize the benefits of recent and upcoming trade agreements, and it continued to support activities aimed at helping SMEs capitalize on procurement and development opportunities in the region related to shipbuilding.

In 2014-15, ACOA worked closely with numerous stakeholders to identify and develop key initiatives to strengthen and enhance the economic foundation and the sustainability of communities throughout Atlantic Canada.

• ACOA continued to work closely with various partners to address the needs of communities, especially in rural areas, that are vulnerable to the out-migration of skilled workers and an aging population. For example, ACOA supported an initiative with educational institutions in New Brunswick to attract international students to the province, which is important in ensuring the continued availability of skilled labour required to sustain economic growth.
• Community Business Development Corporations continued to invest capital in rural businesses and to offer business counselling and skills development training; investments resulted in over 1,400 new jobs created in rural communities of Atlantic Canada.
• The Agency assisted in addressing the challenges faced by tourism and other resource sectors that are seeing fluctuations in the global market, and helped prepare strategies to grow those sectors.
  • Through the Atlantic Canada Tourism Partnership (ACTP), the Agency helped intensify the Atlantic region’s international tourism marketing efforts by generating efficiencies at the consumer, travel-trade and media-relations levels. Deemed a best practice in marketing partnerships, the ACTP enables the Government of Canada, the four Atlantic Provinces and the tourism industry to pool resources and penetrate markets that are largely inaccessible individually.
  • ACOA worked with the Municipality of the District of Argyle and the Société touristique Bon Temps in Nova Scotia to develop an astro-tourism industry aimed at economic development and diversification. This project hopes to achieve the UNESCO‑supported Starlight Tourism Destination and Starlight Reserve designations for an area to be known as the Acadian Skies and Mi’kmaq Lands.
  • The Agency supported and enhanced the celebration of the 150^th Anniversary of the Charlottetown Conference and enabled this important milestone for the provincial economy. ACOA provided infrastructure support for the Confederation Centre of the Arts and the Celebration Zone at the Confederation Landing Park and supported PEI 2014 Inc.’s marketing efforts to increase visitation from the province’s primary tourism markets.
• ACOA continued to serve the Atlantic region’s francophone official language minority community by working with Heritage Canada and 13 other federal departments to deliver the Economic Development Initiative under the Roadmap for Canada’s Official Languages 2013-2018: Education, Immigration, Communities.
• The Agency continued to work with various indigenous parties, including the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs Secretariat, to enhance entrepreneurial opportunities and capacity within indigenous communities as it relates to economic development.
• ACOA worked with researchers to assess the needs of rural areas and projects that generate economic benefit and wealth in these areas. For example, research on tidal energy[iii] showed the potential for significant economic benefits from this new industry in rural areas. 
• The Agency supported businesses and communities in developing the capacity to generate specific opportunities for wealth creation, particularly in rural areas.
  • The Agency worked with the Town of Channel-Port Aux Basques, the government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the private sector and Marine Atlantic to improve the downtown business district in the Town of Channel-Port Aux Basques, N.L. This investment, phase one of an award-winning master plan, will see investments in signage, street lighting, sidewalks and façade guidelines for local businesses.
  • ACOA supported the Cornwallis Park Development Association to undertake building and information technology upgrades to leverage new economic opportunities in the Annapolis and Digby counties of Nova Scotia, providing key community infrastructure and transforming an underutilized building into an economic development asset suitable for private sector tenants at Cornwallis Park.
  • The Agency provided funding for the development of a barge terminal facility in Saint John, N.B., to accommodate the export of large components through the construction of an access road, a lay-down area and a wharf bulkhead to provide access from the Spruce Lake Industrial Park to the shores of the Bay of Fundy, thereby increasing regional companies’ competitiveness and growth opportunities in the fabrication sector.
  • It also supported the Souris Harbour Authority Inc. to repurpose and retrofit a vacant former seafood processing facility in Souris, P.E.I., for use as a multi-purpose, multi-tenant facility creating new jobs and building capacity in the region. This ensured the sustainability and growth of a small rural community by stimulating development through targeted investments in infrastructure which supports diversification in a region identified as requiring special measures.

In 2014-15, ACOA conducted rigorous analysis and research to ensure the Atlantic region’s economy capitalized on opportunities. ACOA built engagement and developed strategies to address opportunities and challenges in areas such as innovation, community development and the energy sector, including clean energy, major projects, international business development, local infrastructure, resource sectors and key growth sectors such as aerospace and defence. Examples include:

• Research was initiated to examine the evolving competitive position of the region’s manufacturing sector and to provide greater context of the European Union market, including opportunities and challenges for Atlantic firms.
• An evaluation of the Atlantic Policy Research Initiative indicated that this program is relevant. There is an ongoing need for policy research funding to address critical gaps in knowledge about the future of economic development in Atlantic Canada. ACOA plays a key role in supporting the development of economic policy research and networking opportunities in this region as well as in mobilizing knowledge for decision-makers.
• Through continued advocacy, ACOA maintained strong relationships with central agencies and other departments in the federal policy environment to ensure appropriate reflection in specific files of national and regional interest. It supported its president in deputy-minister-level meetings and on Government of Canada economic and social priority files; and it participated in various tiger teams to further develop concepts and initiatives such as the following.
  • As a participant in Industry Canada’s Tiger Team, ACOA identified and documented a number of successful strategies that SMEs have used to penetrate global value chains. As a result of this exercise, ACOA’s evidence-based analysis of Atlantic case studies fed into the policy development process of other departments.
  • ACOA worked with other federal departments to advance an initiative to help counter a pending spruce budworm infestation that threatens Atlantic Canada’s forests and the forestry industry, through the development of an innovative biologically-based pesticide.
  • ACOA promoted opportunities on upcoming defence procurements through the engagement of more than 350 Atlantic SME participants from all four provinces in various initiatives strategically aimed at readying, educating and pre-positioning them.
  • The Agency facilitated over 250 direct business-to-business meetings between Atlantic industry and prime contractors to explore specific direct and indirect industrial benefit opportunities on procurements.
  • ACOA helped regional SMEs position themselves to take advantage of upcoming opportunities related to the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy. In 2014-15, ACOA activities reached over 150 Atlantic participants and facilitated approximately 120 business-to-business meetings with marine and defence contractors.
• ACOA facilitated the development of the Atlantic energy sector by coordinating efforts between federal and provincial partners in support of the development of new energy projects in the region.
• The Agency assisted in the development of a foreign trade zone task force for the Halifax Logistics Park to provide single window access to government services and support the promotion of the facility in international markets.
• ACOA also worked with federal and provincial partners to maintain a high level of engagement and combined resources through the International Business Development Agreement to increase exports, thus generating economic wealth for the region.
• ACOA continued to work with provincial partners, industry, associations and stakeholders to maximize the economic benefits that may accrue in the region in relation to emerging opportunities.
  • In Newfoundland and Labrador, the Agency pursued work with the Gros Morne Cooperating Association, other government departments and key stakeholders to advance the Gros Morne Cultural Blueprint and to develop and begin implementation of a national outreach strategy.
  • Through the Nova Scotia Energy Initiative, ACOA and the Atlantic Energy Office planned and worked with other federal departments, central agencies and the Nova Scotia Department of Energy to outline key opportunities that will impact the full development of the energy sector in Nova Scotia.
  • In New Brunswick, a strategic initiatives pilot was introduced to work in collaboration with other government departments and industry to more effectively support the advancement of targeted initiatives that demonstrate strategic potential for the regional economy.
  • In Prince Edward Island, the Agency, in co-operation with the provincial government, supported a panel discussion focusing on European markets, which was delivered to an audience of over 130 Prince Edward Island businesses.
• ACOA supported the Government of Canada’s engagement on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Regional Development Policy Committee (RDPC) and the Working Party on Rural Policy, with a key achievement being the successful renewal of the RDPC's five-year mandate (2015-19). The Agency also led the coordination of regional development agencies (RDAs) for Canada’s involvement in the 10^th OECD Rural Development Conference, and contributed to the development of a presentation to the OECD on Canada’s RDA model.
• Finally, ACOA coordinated work with other federal departments in the region to complete the transition to a new model and launched the Atlantic Federal Council.

In 2014-15, ACOA implemented transformational and organizational initiatives to strengthen and improve the Agency’s capacity to deliver excellent programs and services and to seek opportunities for increased collaboration. For example:

• ACOA continued to support the implementation of key efficiency improvements and whole-of-government IT initiatives such as the new Human Resources (HR) management system (MyGCHR), the Shared Travel Services solution and the new Treasury Board Secretariat Performance Management Directive.
• The Agency worked collaboratively with other RDAs to define a business and information model for a common grants and contributions management system that will help RDAs further achieve a whole-of-government approach.
• ACOA pursued its focus on employee engagement and continued to use employee-driven process improvement initiatives.
• In addition to supporting the transition of economic development activities within its operations following the dissolution of Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation (ECBC), ACOA provided former ECBC staff who became ACOA employees with the support, tools and training required to ensure their effective integration into the Agency.

ACOA ensured appropriate mitigation of the Agency’s key risks. The Agency promoted and strengthened risk management and results-based management capacity and culture within the organization by ensuring that risk management was integrated into the Agency’s planning and decision-making process.

The implementation of ACOA’s Values and Ethics Strategy supported the objective of ensuring that values and ethics remain at the foundation of the Agency’s corporate culture and promoting open dialogue at all levels of the Agency.

ACOA has maintained strong HR practices by:

• supporting an enhanced HR planning process to ensure better alignment with business needs;
• as part of the implementation of ACOA’s Official Languages Action Plan, raising awareness of the Official Languages Act and employees’ rights and responsibilities relating to official languages;
• implementing activities and objectives that are part of the Employment Equity and Diversity action plan (2011-15), such as raising employee awareness and encouraging an environment that embraces cultural diversity, employment equity and a respectful workplace; and
• actively promoting the Public Service Employee Survey 2014 – the Agency’s results were favourable – through various forms of communication.

Throughout 2014-15, the Agency continued to actively support the Blueprint 2020 initiative. ACOA’s pursuit of the Blueprint 2020 vision has become a cross-Agency endeavour, spawning new, employee-driven initiatives with a common goal of making employee engagement “business as usual” while seeking out efficiencies and streamlining processes in order to deliver the best service possible to Atlantic Canadians.