Shifting your writing about Atlantic Canada

By: Kevin Dubé, Director General, Communications, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

With summer fast approaching, ministers or their delegates are getting ready to take to the road for visits and announcements in various communities across the country. If you are working on materials supporting your minister traveling to Atlantic Canada, you need to pay particular attention to the following.

For way too long, outdated perceptions and anecdotes have defined Atlantic Canada and its economy. Indeed, the four Atlantic provinces are not just about beaches, lobsters, potatoes, and lighthouses – parochial and traditional images that are so far removed from today's reality. The Atlantic region has been undergoing an incredible transformation, one not seen since the days of Confederation. With a thriving biomanufacturing industry, a bustling aerospace sector, a world-class early-stage start-up ecosystem, and an ocean sector that's poised for exponential growth, it is clear that Atlantic Canada has the wind in its sails and a new story to tell.

The evidence of this momentum is supported by the Public Policy Forum’s Atlantic Canada Momentum Index, which demonstrates the significant and positive change the region has experienced in recent years. This evidence-based document confirms that population, immigration, GDP per capita, education, employment rate, productivity, and life satisfaction are all trending up in Atlantic Canada. In fact, of 20 indicators examined from 2008 to 2021, 16 showed momentum across Atlantic Canada. Over the same period of time, Canada as a whole showed momentum in only 10 indicators.

Before you start working on communications material for a ministerial visit to the Atlantic provinces, you must read the report to see for yourself the wave of change that has swept over the region. This is the story that is happening in Atlantic Canada. Don’t leave your minister in the dark, they will want to share in these exciting developments that are helping to reshape Atlantic Canada when talking and meeting with stakeholders, media, and especially Atlantic Canadians.

Not sure where to start and get your ideas for your draft products? You can read the speech delivered by ACOA’s Deputy Minister during the recent Public Policy Forum‘s Canada Growth Summit 2023. Feel free to reach out to ACOA’s Communications Team for more tips and leads!