Program directory · Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Innovation Ecosystem
- Department
- Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
- Program code
- BED04 (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) develops and facilitates strategic networks, partnerships and initiatives to develop an innovation ecosystem. Activities that are key to this ecosystem include networking, engagement and coordination activities to foster collaboration with various stakeholders, such as other federal departments, provinces, industry associations and educational institutions. ACOA aims to increase awareness, knowledge, influence and capacity to innovate in new and traditional sectors, pursue new opportunities, and solve challenges. This program helps build the ecosystem by supporting competitive clusters and business incubators and accelerators, and by funding innovation infrastructure. It helps communities of interest, such as business associations and development organizations, to promote innovation and mitigate risks, including in rural areas. ACOA engages with key stakeholders, networks and partnerships to ensure that innovation challenges and opportunities identified by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are addressed in a coordinated manner. It lays the foundation for SMEs to successfully innovate and commercialize technologies. This program is well aligned with the ACOA Act and its activities, including support for enterprises and business associations, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Innovation Ecosystem | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $344M |
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 | Indicators added: Amount leveraged per dollar invested by ACOA in support of Atlantic Canada’s Innovation Ecosystem | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2019-20 | Indicators dropped: Number of key collaborators for technology development through Atlantic Innovation Fund projects | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2020-21 | Spending $50.4M, against $37.9M in 2019-20 (+33%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Spending $63.1M, against $50.4M in 2020-21 (+25%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Planned spending $49.9M, against $39.3M in 2025-26 (+27%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
| 2027-28 | Planned spending $33.9M, against $49.9M in 2026-27 (−32%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
| 2028-29 | Planned spending $19M, against $33.9M in 2027-28 (−44%). | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | ≥ $1 | 2020 | $1 ACOA exceeded its target in 2019-20 because of its successful efforts to seek out partners to collaborate on projects to support the Innovation Ecosystem. | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ $1 | 2021 | $1 ACOA did not meet its target in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ACOA’s efforts to seek out partners to collaborate on projects to support the Innovation Ecosystem was hindered. | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ $1 | 2022 | $2 | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ $1 | 2023 | $1 | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ $1 | 2024 | $2 | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ $1 | 2025 | $1 Despite ACOA’s considerable efforts to foster enhanced collaboration, its capacity to secure greater commitment from partners was constrained by the nature of its programming over the past year. In particular, the agency concentrated on administering multiple temporary programs, within which the strategic objective of leveraging additional partner engagement was not prioritized. Consequently, the… | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 28 | 2019 | 7 The amount of key collaborators for technology development through AIF projects was low in 2018-19 due to the fewer number of projects approved for AIF, and the particularly small number of non-commercial projects. | Not met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ $1 | 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 | $47.4M |
| 2019-20 | $53.2M | $37.9M |
| 2020-21 | $47M | $50.4M |
| 2021-22 | $49.4M | $63.1M |
| 2022-23 | $56.5M | $50.5M |
| 2023-24 | $52.5M | $49.1M |
| 2024-25 | $32.8M | $45.2M |
| 2025-26 | $39.3M | — |
| 2026-27 | $49.9M | — |
| 2027-28 | $33.9M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $19M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 38 | 15 |
| 2019-20 | 32 | 14 |
| 2020-21 | 14 | 14 |
| 2021-22 | 15 | 16 |
| 2022-23 | 15 | 15 |
| 2023-24 | 15 | 11 |
| 2024-25 | 14 | 12 |
| 2025-26 | 15 | — |
| 2026-27 | 12 | — |
| 2027-28 | 11* | — |
| 2028-29 | 8* | — |
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 | $53,166,428 | $46,916,428 | $46,825,189 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $46,971,642 | $46,886,986 | $46,888,619 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $49,415,275 | $48,671,140 | $44,588,545 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $56,460,987 | $47,137,085 | $44,581,491 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $52,541,665 | $44,599,682 | $42,836,723 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $32,824,435 | $32,648,813 | $8,438,158 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $39,251,379 | $18,718,991 | $9,704,227 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $49,945,250 | $33,938,702 | $18,950,869 | ||||||||
| Actual | $47,434,874 | $37,865,419 | $50,379,062 | $63,077,344 | $50,455,601 | $49,060,143 | $45,242,537 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
