Program directory · Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Research and Development and Commercialization
- Department
- Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
- Program code
- BED03 (ACOA)
- Core responsibility
- Economic Development in Atlantic Canada
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) plays an important role in ensuring that Atlantic Canada continues to maximize benefits from national research and development (R&D) programs and builds on the momentum of rising business expenditures in R&D in the region. R&D and commercialization is fundamental to increasing the region’s competitiveness and to closing the productivity gap with the rest of the country. The Agency invests in innovation by supporting the development and commercialization of new products, services and processes. ACOA also provides support for the adoption and adaptation of leading-edge technologies. Clients include businesses, universities and research institutes. With ACOA’s financial assistance, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and institutions can acquire the resources (equipment, etc.) and expertise needed to develop new or enhanced technologies, products, processes and services for commercial use. SMEs and institutions create R&D partnerships to pursue institution or industry-initiated product/process/service concepts that lead to intellectual property development and advances innovation in the region. This is well aligned with the ACOA Act and its activities, including support for enterprises and other activities aimed at improving the business environment.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research and Development and Commercialization | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $205M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | Renamed from “Research and Development and Commercialisation” to “Research and Development and Commercialization”. | GC InfoBase program names by year |
| 2021-22 | Spending $21.5M, against $38.1M in 2020-21 (−44%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2022-23 | Spending $15M, against $21.5M in 2021-22 (−30%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Planned spending $45.9M, against $9.9M in 2024-25 (+366%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 0.3% | 2019 | 0.6% ACOA-assisted firms’ R&D expenditures as a percentage of revenue is measured by dividing R&D expenditures by revenues. The 2018-19 results of 0.63% exceeds the target of 0.34% due to revisions in revenue numbers received for fiscal year 2018-19, compared to the revenue numbers received to set the target. This resulted in a stronger ratio for ACOA-assisted firms in fiscal year 2018-19. | Met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 0.3% | 2020 | 0.6% ACOA-assisted firms’ R&D expenditures as a percentage of revenue is measured by dividing R&D expenditures by revenues. The 2019-20 result of 0.60% exceeds the target of 0.30% due to revisions in revenue numbers received for fiscal year 2019-20, compared to the revenue numbers received to set the target. This resulted in a stronger ratio for ACOA-assisted firms for fiscal year 2019-20. | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 0.6% | 2021 | 0.6% | Met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 0.6% | 2022 | 0.7% | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 0.6% | 2023 | 0.6% | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 0.6% | 2024 | 0.7% | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 0.6% | 2025 | 0.9% | Met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 0.7% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $60.4M | $60M |
| 2019-20 | $45M | $46.4M |
| 2020-21 | $36.6M | $38.1M |
| 2021-22 | $35.9M | $21.5M |
| 2022-23 | $43.5M | $15M |
| 2023-24 | $44.6M | $14.7M |
| 2024-25 | $45.2M | $9.9M |
| 2025-26 | $45.9M | — |
| 2026-27 | $38.9M | — |
| 2027-28 | $38.3M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $34.2M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 38 | 56 |
| 2019-20 | 41 | 57 |
| 2020-21 | 57 | 58 |
| 2021-22 | 59 | 55 |
| 2022-23 | 58 | 52 |
| 2023-24 | 57 | 48 |
| 2024-25 | 57 | 49 |
| 2025-26 | 56 | — |
| 2026-27 | 52 | — |
| 2027-28 | 51* | — |
| 2028-29 | 48* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $60,369,924 | $42,834,886 | $42,834,886 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $45,035,034 | $36,285,034 | $35,393,702 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $36,634,813 | $35,782,724 | $43,192,108 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $35,862,685 | $43,242,877 | $43,244,576 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $43,453,920 | $43,249,636 | $43,209,111 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $44,645,892 | $43,274,269 | $43,270,583 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $45,238,729 | $45,203,268 | $41,738,344 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $45,907,625 | $41,807,074 | $41,807,074 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $38,940,991 | $38,323,444 | $34,214,560 | ||||||||
| Actual | $59,981,940 | $46,367,398 | $38,143,196 | $21,467,705 | $14,988,093 | $14,676,449 | $9,861,039 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
