ACOA's 2025–26 Departmental Results Report

Description

ACOA supports Atlantic Canada’s economic growth, wealth creation and economic prosperity by building competitive regional strengths. It helps businesses grow, with particular emphasis on SMEs, through direct financial assistance and, indirectly, through business support organizations. SMEs become more innovative by adopting new technologies and processes, and by pursuing new avenues for expansion and market diversification to compete and succeed in a global market.

Quality of life impacts

This core responsibility most closely relates to the “Prosperity” domain of the Quality of Life Framework for Canada and the indicators of GDP per capita, productivity, investment in in-house research and development (R&D), and firm growth and employment.

Progress on results

This section details the department’s performance against its targets for each departmental result under the core responsibility Economic development in Atlantic Canada.

Details on results

The following section describes the results for Economic development in Atlantic Canada in 2025–26 compared with the planned results set out in ACOA’s departmental plan for the year.

Atlantic Canada has the ingredients to become an economic force and a magnet for investment. It has seen recent population, employment and capital investment development that create the right conditions for growth. In 2025–26, ACOA remained a reliable source of place-based investments in Atlantic Canada to build a stronger and more resilient economy that serves all Canadians. The Agency prioritized productivity to foster economic competitiveness, boost business growth and lead to higher living standards. Advocacy and pathfinding in national policies and programs also helped Atlantic Canadian stakeholders leverage opportunities and ensure the region is at the forefront of Canada’s overall economic success. This helped firms scale up, develop new markets and adopt new technologies and processes to be more productive and competitive. Activities supported Atlantic Canadians to advance and diversify regional economies in an inclusive way, including groups such as Indigenous peoples and rural communities that are under-represented in the economy.

ACOA’s overarching strategic priority was to enhance productivity and growth. During the past year, the Agency emphasized efforts aimed at closing the productivity gap of the region. This was done by focusing on three areas:

1. Growing strategic sectors: ACOA promoted place-based economic diversification and market expansion by propelling key sectors such as biosciences, cybersecurity, clean technologies, and aerospace and defence.
2. Technology adoption: The Agency helped SMEs increase the adoption of automation and advanced digital technologies, including AI, to optimize their value, create efficiencies and reduce waste.
3. Workforce development: ACOA worked with businesses to ensure that key industries have the skilled workers they need to enhance their productivity and to help communities attract and develop the talent required to foster economic growth.

The Agency’s focus on productivity, competitiveness and diversification, combined with ACOA’s flexible programming and close relationship with its business clients, helped Atlantic Canadian SMEs, sectors and communities navigate economic insecurity, mitigate the impacts of trade disruptions, and ensure future growth and competitiveness. The Agency’s flexible programming contributed to mitigating disruptions by enhancing the region’s value proposition and by helping businesses adapt to changing trade conditions.

Between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026, the Agency supported 1,852 projects, investing $335.7 million to help create or maintain more than 5,200 jobs. ACOA also leveraged funding partners to maximize impact, generating $1.43 for every dollar approved overall in fiscal year 2025–26. Beyond funding, the Agency provided tailored advice to business owners and community leaders, ensuring they could access the tools and resources needed to adapt to economic challenges, boost productivity and seize growth opportunities. As outlined in the “Progress on Results” section, the Agency met or surpassed most of its targets, showing encouraging signs for the economy and ACOA’s impact. Indicators such as the number of high-growth firms in the region and the value of business expenditures in R&D by firms receiving ACOA funding have shown steady progress in the last three years. The target for the revenue growth rate of firms supported by ACOA programs was not met because the 7% target assumed the strong post-pandemic recovery would continue. Instead, revenue growth slowed between 2022 and 2024 as businesses faced persistent inflationary pressures, fallout from the war in Ukraine, high operating costs, supply-chain disruptions, rising interest rates and labour shortages. Despite these challenges, ACOA-supported firms continued to achieve positive revenue growth at a healthy rate of 4.5%. Similarly for exports in 2025, performance remained strong and increasingly diversified despite trade shocks, but softened from 2024 due to market volatility, particularly in commodities (for example, crude oil prices), and trade uncertainty.

In response to the challenging trade conditions and changing economic headwinds, ACOA capitalized on the flexibility of its suite of programming to help its clients succeed. The Agency both designed and launched the Regional Tariff Response Initiative and invested nearly $21 million in 90 different projects, helping its clients pivot to new markets in the face of trade challenges, enhance their competitiveness through targeted investments, and strengthen their supply chains and facilitate internal trade to increase their resilience to trade shocks.

The Agency also continued to deliver growth enabling initiatives through the Regional Economic Growth through Innovation program, one of the Government of Canada’s four flagship platforms for economic development, investing over $223 million in 1,188 projects in regular programming^{Footnote 2}. It enhanced competitiveness and growth through technology development, commercialization, adoption and adaptation, productivity improvements, and market expansion with trusted trading partners. Broad-based support was complemented by more targeted growth-enabling initiatives such as the Regional Homebuilding Innovation Initiative, which invested over $2.2 million in 10 different projects. This initiative supported innovative approaches for building houses, including designing and upscaling modular homes, the use of 3D printing, panelized construction, as well as implementing net-zero and climate-resilient homebuilding practices to increase house building and affordability. Additionally, the Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative (RAII) helped SMEs adopt and adapt AI solutions by bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and broader marketplace applications, positioning Atlantic Canadian businesses for future success, with nearly $4 million in investments in 27 projects. ACOA also delivered the Regional Defence Investment Initiative, investing almost $17 million in 27 projects, accelerating the integration of Atlantic Canadian businesses and regional ecosystems into domestic and international defence supply chains to increase their industrial and innovation capacity. Finally, focused investments such as the Tourism Growth Program and the Elevate Tourism Initiative helped diversify regional economies, notably by investing in tourism products and experiences that will encourage visitation to and within Atlantic Canada year-round.

ACOA also played a major role in the establishment of the Atlantic Economic Panel, a seven-person, independent and private-sector-led initiative that focused on identifying opportunities, barriers and interventions to drive productivity growth, strengthen competitiveness, boost productivity and secure the long-term prosperity of Atlantic Canada at this pivotal moment for the region. ACOA hosted the secretariat for the Panel and assisted with the organization of numerous consultations. The Panel published a report in September 2026 with recommendations to foster a cultural shift and position the region as a place where future generations of businesses and people choose to reside, grow and thrive locally.

ACOA’s key priorities and its Minister’s mandate letter commitments were guiding principles in the achievement of its core responsibilities through the three departmental results below:

Key risks

ACOA faced two main risks to fulfilling its mandate. The first is that the Agency’s economic development programming could be affected by external factors impacting economic growth, such as the implications of the United States’ tariffs and climate-related events. The second is related to the capacity of stakeholders – other governments, partners, communities and clients – to identify, develop and successfully implement projects. Projects are proponent-led and cost-shared; therefore, the Agency actively promoted collaboration to deliver programming.

ACOA capitalized on the flexibility of its programs, advocated on behalf of Atlantic Canada in various spheres, including federal and regional tables, and collaborated with partners to exchange valuable information and best practices. It supported analysis on regional economic issues and collaborated with stakeholders to foster client and community capacity to target key federal priorities.

Resources required to achieve results

Related government priorities

This section highlights government priorities that are being addressed through this core responsibility.

Program inventory

Economic development in Atlantic Canada is supported by the following programs:

• Inclusive Communities
• Diversified Communities
• Research and Development, and Commercialization
• Innovation Ecosystems
• Business Growth
• Trade and Investment
• Policy Research and Engagement

Additional information related to the program inventory for Economic development in Atlantic Canada is available on the Results page on GC InfoBase.

Description

Internal services are the activities and resources that support a department in meeting its corporate obligations and delivering its programs. The 10 categories of internal services are:

• acquisition management services
• communications services
• financial management services
• human resources management services
• information management services
• information technology services
• legal services
• material management services
• management and oversight services
• real property management services

Progress on results

This section presents details on how the department performed to achieve results and meet targets for internal services.

In 2025–26, ACOA’s Internal Services advanced sustainable change and modernization by strengthening governance, enhancing digital capabilities, and fostering an inclusive, accessible and high-performing workplace.

ACOA reinforced governance, internal controls and procurement oversight through risk-based monitoring, stronger financial and procurement controls, streamlined approvals and enhanced oversight tools. This was complemented by improved decision-making and rigorous forecasting, timely financial and workforce analysis, and modernized planning and reporting tools, including standardized processes and dashboards.

Progress was made in modernizing program delivery including significant enhancements to grants and contributions systems and developing a next-generation client web portal. These improvements created the foundation for more efficient and accessible program delivery, and when fully implemented, clients will have faster, simpler and more secure access to programs and services. These changes will also enable strengthened data integrity practices for program reporting.

ACOA also supported the Government of Canada’s Digital Ambition by deploying tools such as the CanChat generative AI solution, delivering AI-focused pilot initiatives and training, and enhancing data infrastructure to support workforce and financial dashboards.

The Agency fostered a more representative and inclusive workplace by advancing employment equity, anti-racism and accessibility initiatives, supported by Agency-wide collaboration with employee-led networks and committees to identify and remove systemic barriers.

The Agency continued implementing its Employment Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Action Plan; advancing accessibility through the publication of its Accessibility Action Plan and Digital Accessibility Passport; launching the Employment Systems Review to identify barriers; advancing the Call to Action forward direction by mobilizing senior leaders as champions to strengthen employee-led networks; ensuring employee voices inform inclusive action; implementing an internal calendar of commemorative dates to help avoid scheduling major meetings and events during significant religious and cultural periods; and supporting participation in equity-focused leadership initiatives. ACOA continues to implement the Elder-in-Residence Initiative, which supports employees in developing a deeper understanding of Indigenous histories, cultures and perspectives. This partnership strengthens employees’ cultural competence and enhances their ability to build respectful, trusting and effective relationships with Indigenous clients, partners and communities.

Diversity, Inclusion, Competence, Excellence (DICE) was a mandatory course designed to raise awareness and inspire action on diversity and inclusion issues within ACOA. It was developed in response to the Call to Action on Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion in the Federal Public Service. It is designed to support both employees and managers in fostering inclusive, respectful, safe and accessible workplaces. In 2025–26, the Agency developed DICE 2 training that complements the facilitated conversations that formed DICE. DICE 2 was co-developed with employee-led networks, leveraging their expertise and lived experiences. This collaborative effort has enriched the program’s content and delivery, ensuring it promotes inclusive dialogue, greater understanding, and a stronger culture of belonging throughout the organization.

The Agency continued its efforts to prevent harassment and discrimination through awareness initiatives, including the delivery of mandatory diversity and inclusion conversations (training) and recognizing commemorative days such as National Occupational Health and Safety Week, Mental Health Week and National AccessAbility Week.

The Agency also initiated a comprehensive review of its Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Policy and Guide and revamped the occurrence reporting tool to facilitate more accessible, user-friendly and timely reporting. These efforts were intended to enhance awareness, promote a safe and respectful workplace, and ensure more consistent, transparent and effective handling and resolution of reported incidents across the organization.

Efforts also continued to promote well-being, official languages, and workplace culture by advancing a bilingual, people-centred workplace through official languages governance, improving change communications with clear bilingual tools and supports; investing in mentorship and targeted leadership development; and advancing values and ethics measures through the launch of a renewed Code of Conduct.

Resources required to achieve results

Risk and compliance process

The Risk and Compliance Process (RCP) is a self-assessment designed to help deputy heads verify that they have controls and practices in place to meet their accountabilities under legislation and Treasury Board policy, and to effectively manage risks in their organizations.

In 2025–26, ACOA completed the RCP self-assessment. The results demonstrate that ACOA has the controls and practices in place to meet its accountabilities under legislation and Treasury Board policy and that it meets the compliance requirements in all areas of focus that apply to the Agency. The results also demonstrate that ACOA continues to actively monitor corporate risks and exhibits strong awareness and effective management of functional-area risks across the Agency.

With the goal of further strengthening the Agency’s management practices, ACOA will continue to:

• standardize reporting and increase use of analytical tools to support decision making for greater financial governance 
• consolidate procurement risk management through established governance, oversight and use of existing risk tools
• increase staff accountability with enhanced security training and awareness
• strengthen the use of the Departmental Plan for Service and Digital as a governance instrument to support data‑driven decision making, inform strategic direction, and support the achievement of results

Contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses

Government of Canada departments are required to award at least 5% of the total value of contracts to Indigenous businesses every year.

In its 2025–26 Departmental Plan, ACOA estimated that it would award 5% of the total value of its contracts to Indigenous businesses by the end of 2025–26.

Table 6: Total value of contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses

Table 6 shows that ACOA awarded 9.66% of the total value of all its contracts to Indigenous businesses for the fiscal year.

As a member of the Atlantic Indigenous Development Initiative Committee, ACOA collaborated with Indigenous Services Canada, Procurement Assistance Canada, as well as key Indigenous partners from all provinces in Atlantic Canada. This committee oversaw the planning, co‑development and implementation of an Atlantic Indigenous business development strategy to facilitate access to federal procurement for Indigenous businesses. This collaborative effort provided a mechanism to engage with Indigenous people and businesses in the Atlantic region to increase federal procurement opportunities and build capacity for Indigenous businesses.

Budgetary performance summary

Planned spending for next three years

Graph 1 summarizes the department’s approved voted and statutory funding from 2023–24 to 2028–29.

Text version of graph 1

Graph 1 includes the following information in a bar graph:

Text version of graph 1

Fiscal year	Statutory	Voted	Total
2023–24	$9,479,725	$468,950,861	$478,430,586
2024–25	$9,343,840	$391,124,459	$400,468,299
2025–26	$9,809,632	$408,786,332	$418,595,964
2026–27	$10,226,783	$379,178,994	$389,405,777
2027–28	$10,046,422	$355,456,429	$365,502,851
2028–29	$9,628,644	$299,631,005	$309,259,649

Actual spending: 2023–24, 2024–25, 2025–26. Planned spending: 2026–27, 2027–28, and 2028–29.

Planned spending for 2026–27, 2027–28 and 2028–29 does not include amounts stemming from Budget 2026.

Analysis of statutory and voted funding over a six-year period

In 2025–26, the Agency’s spending was $18.1 million more than the previous year, mainly due to the following changes in authorities.

• A total increase of $60.8 million due to: 
  • $22.6 million increase in temporary funding announced in Budget 2025 for the Regional Economic Growth through Innovation – Regional Tariff Response Initiative 
  • $16.1 million increase in temporary funding announced in Budget 2025 for the implementation of the Regional Defence Investment Initiative
  • $7.8 million increase in temporary funding for the Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship 
  • $5.8 million increase in temporary funding for the BioAccelerator Project
  • $3.4 million increase in temporary funding in support of the Halifax International Security Forum
  • $2.8 million increase related to the Cybersecurity Data Attribution Centre
  • $1.7 million increase in temporary funding announced in Budget 2024 related to the Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative
  • $0.6 million increase in temporary funding for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic program
• This increase is offset by a total decrease of $42.7 million due to: 
  • $31.0 million decrease in temporary funding for the Hurricane Fiona Recovery Fund, reprofiled from fiscal year 2023–2024 to fiscal year 2024–2025 
  • $9.0 million decrease in temporary funding for the Canada Coal Transition Initiative – Infrastructure Fund
  • $2.7 million decrease in temporary funding for the Keirs Shore landing site project 

The decrease in planned spending in future years as detailed in the Table 8 description is attributable mainly to the conclusion of temporary funding received as well as the Comprehensive Expenditure Review.

Consult the Public Accounts of Canada for further information on ACOA’s departmental voted and statutory expenditures.

Financial statement highlights

This section presents ACOA’s financial statements (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2026.