Celebrating 35 years of building an innovative, inclusive, and modern economy in Atlantic Canada

December 15, 2022 · Moncton, New Brunswick · Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA)

For 35 years, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) has been there to help businesses, communities, and organizations build a strong, innovative, and inclusive economy in Atlantic Canada. In 2022, amid global uncertainty, ACOA continued to take actions to position Atlantic Canadian businesses to grow, innovate and continue to export. As Atlantic Canadians prepare to welcome 2023, the government is committed to making life more affordable for Canadians, building an economy that works for everyone, while tackling the challenging economic realities that our region and our country are facing.

Today, the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for ACOA, provided an overview of the impact of the Agency’s investments during the first year of her mandate.

Investing in jobs, growth and an economy that works for everyone

Since January 2022, ACOA delivered over $316 million in more than 1,500 projects to assist businesses and organizations in Atlantic Canada.

During the year, several initiatives were delivered to help position the region for a robust recovery and long-term economic growth. New ideas that inspired residents and tourists alike to rediscover Atlantic Canadian main streets received $10 million through the Rediscover Main Streets initiative (RMSI). Establishments in our urban and rural communities were deeply affected by a prolonged period without public gatherings. These places have lots to offer and drive the local economy as hubs of social, economic, and cultural activity. Over the summer and fall months, unique attractions and activities drew people into Main streets and downtown cores in communities across the region, including cultural events as well as live music, art installations and introducing local products to new consumers. These projects successfully reconnected residents and visitors with downtowns and neighbourhoods and boosted the local tourism sector.

Businesses were also prepared to welcome tourists from all over the world again in part through support from the Tourism Relief Fund, which contributed almost $38 million to help provide exceptional tourism experience and position the industry for strong future growth. Organizations, municipalities, and community groups received close to $38 million in support to build and revitalize community infrastructures through the Canada Community Revitalization Fund to bring people back to public spaces safely as health measures eased.

Strategic investments delivered by the Agency contribute to strengthening key industries across Atlantic Canada and build on the region’s competitive strengths in priority sectors like automation and digitalization, food and beverage, ocean, clean growth, and the start-up economy. To that effect, ACOA delivered over $173 million to Atlantic businesses and organizations through its regular suite of programs in 2022.

Supporting entrepreneurs as they pave the way to economic recovery and a sustainable, inclusive future remains a priority for the Government of Canada. In Atlantic Canada, ACOA helped entrepreneurs navigate the impacts of recent challenges like labour shortages, the expansion of digital business processes, complexities of global markets, and climate change as well as growing the workforce of the future through immigration, skills development, and inclusion of under-represented groups in Atlantic Canada.

Delivering special federal measures for Atlantic Canadians

Throughout the past year, ACOA was also called upon to deliver special measures on behalf of the Government of Canada. In order to help accelerate recovery through investments in modernization and product diversification, the Prince Edward Island Potato Stabilization and Innovation Initiative was launched to help small and medium-size enterprises modernize their operations to enhance productivity and diversify product lines.

ACOA continued to deliver the Canada Coal Transition Initiative (CCTI) and Canada Coal Transition Initiative-Infrastructure Fund (CCTI-IF) to address the economic diversification of affected communities and surrounding areas transitioning away from coal-fired electricity and towards a carbon neutral future. ACOA worked closely with impacted communities in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and with the employers and workers to find concrete solutions to build a greener future. Through investments of more than $8.2 million, the Agency helped to diversify the workforce to allow these communities to develop and prosper economically.

In September, Hurricane Fiona ravaged many cities and towns in the four Atlantic provinces, destroying property and infrastructure, and threatening the livelihoods of thousands of people in the region. Following the storm, the Government of Canada rapidly announced the Hurricane Fiona Recovery Fund, which is being coordinated by ACOA. The Fund provides up to $300 million over two years to support local communities and businesses impacted by the storm and to help long-term recovery efforts. ACOA is working with other federal departments and agencies to determine local needs, develop targeted initiatives to assist in recovery and rebuilding, and allocate funds accordingly to the departments and agencies that will deliver their portion of the Fund, such as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, which announced that $100 million of the Hurricane Fiona Recovery Fund would go towards the rebuilding of small craft harbours and the recovery of lost fishing gear.

Advancing Atlantic Prosperity in 2023

In the year ahead, ACOA will continue to provide tailored assistance to small and medium-sized businesses and support job creation in communities to further strengthen the Atlantic Canadian economy and keep stimulating economic growth that benefits everyone. The Agency will remain focused on assisting businesses increasing productivity and digitization for greater competitiveness, pursue new export opportunities, fostering a more diverse workforce to address labour shortages, and leveraging green technologies for economic growth.

ACOA will continue to focus on inclusive economic development, which includes working with Indigenous partners to support their priorities, strengthening capacity among Black-led non-profit business organizations, addressing gaps, and building capacity among women entrepreneurs, and to help reinforce and diversify the economic base of Atlantic Canada’s Acadian and Francophone communities in the region.

Sustained economic growth in Atlantic Canada also requires strong federal-provincial collaboration. Through the Atlantic Growth Strategy, ACOA will work with federal partners and the four Atlantic Provinces to strengthen and diversify the region’s economy.

ACOA across the four Atlantic provinces

In New Brunswick, ACOA invested $94.8 million in 492 projects throughout the province. This includes over $6.2 million in support for Indigenous projects, more than $6 million for women-led projects, $14.3 million for francophone entrepreneurs, and almost $3.5 million for youth-focused projects.

In 2022, some of the projects ACOA supported in New Brunswick include:

• Saint John Energy to lead the way in energy innovation and clean growth by enhancing its technology and grow its smart grid. 
• Projects at the University of New Brunswick and the Université de Moncton to drive the digital transformation through their Computer Science programs in the province, which helps prepare workers from the French and English communities for the jobs of the future, support business growth and attract investments in Atlantic Canada.
• Wolastoq Maple Products, an Indigenous, woman-led business to scale up and expand its operations to increase global competitiveness.
• Support for the Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce to launch the Electric Summer Social Tour, during which regional ambassadors traveled in electric vehicles to connect with local business owners, meet their customers and promote events happening in communities and downtown cores across the province.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, ACOA invested $79.5 million in 493 projects throughout the province. This includes $6.5 million in support for Indigenous projects, over $8.8 million for women-led projects, $26,000 for francophone entrepreneurs, and $300,000 for youth-focused projects.

In 2022, some of the projects ACOA supported in Newfoundland and Labrador include:

• The Centre for Artificial Intelligence at Memorial University, which will serve as a collaborative teaching, outreach and continuing education space for NL’s growing information and communications technology sector.
• Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador to put in place strategic initiatives to help tourism operators across the province attract and safely serve visitors as the sector recovers from the pandemic.
• Tacora Resources to add advanced technology equipment to improve processing and increase efficiency.
• Support for the Legendary Coasts of Eastern Newfoundland to host the first annual Deep Blues Seafood Festival in Old Perlican where participants enjoyed dishes prepared by local and international chefs while listening to blues music played by accomplished musicians.

In Nova Scotia, ACOA invested $102 million in 585 projects throughout the province. This includes over $6.6 million in support for Indigenous projects, close to $11.1 million for women-led projects, almost $2.9 million for francophone entrepreneurs and $3 million for youth-focused projects.

In 2022, some of the projects ACOA supported in Nova Scotia include:

• The expansion of the Verschuren Centre, a first-of-its-kind bioprocessing facility in Canada, which helps cleantech companies develop new sustainable technologies and bring them to market.
• A new pilot facility for Novonix Battery Technology Solutions with advanced equipment to produce lithium-ion battery materials for electric vehicles more efficiently.
• The Mi’kmaw Economic Benefits Office of Nova Scotia’s ongoing work to connect Indigenous youth with jobs in trades and in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), through training, advocacy, and partnership-building.
• Support for the Town of Annapolis Royal to welcome residents and visitors back to annual events that were suspended due to the pandemic, host new events to boost tourism and add trilingual signage in French, Mi’kmaw and English, to direct people to all the attractions the downtown core has to offer.

In Prince Edward Island, ACOA invested $40.1 million in 191 projects throughout the province. This includes almost $2 million in support for Indigenous projects, over $3.9 million for women-led projects, almost $725,000 for francophone entrepreneurs, and close to $270,000 for youth-focused projects.

In 2022, some of the projects ACOA supported in Prince Edward Island include:

• A PEI Potato Industry Market Diversification and Recovery Plan and new food scale-up facility to help producers and agri-food businesses expand and diversify markets.
• Revitalization projects to upgrade accessibility, technology, and infrastructure in support of the 2023 Canada Winter Games on the Island.
• Clean technology to lower fuel costs and reduce carbon emissions in the lobster fishing industry.
• Support for the Town of Kensington for a summer music series, and enhancements to the rail yards and downtown core to encourage community participation and to reanimate the neighbourhood.