Program directory · Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Business Growth
- Department
- Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
- Program code
- BED05 (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) invests in business growth to enhance Atlantic Canadians’ access to the information and financing they need to grow a business. This enables businesses to become more innovative, productive and grow, which generates wealth and jobs. Investments are made through direct repayable and non-repayable contributions to businesses that increase their competitiveness with activities aimed at productivity improvements (new technology/equipment purchase), cleantech adoption/adaptation, start-ups, expansions, modernizations, and domestic marketing. Non-repayable contributions are made to non-profit organizations such as business and economic development associations supporting business start-up and clean growth. ACOA also administers Canada Business, a comprehensive source of information on government services, programs, regulations and resources for businesses. By reducing the complexity of dealing with governments, Canada Business helps the business development process. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Growth | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $1.07B |
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 | Spending $112M, against $85.2M in 2018-19 (+32%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2020-21 | Spending $246M, against $112M in 2019-20 (+119%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Spending $143M, against $246M in 2020-21 (−42%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Spending $193M, against $141M in 2022-23 (+37%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Planned spending $90.8M, against $150M in 2024-25 (−39%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
| 2026-27 | Planned spending $126M, against $90.8M in 2025-26 (+38%). | 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 | ≥ 4.6% | 2019 | 1.5% While the result is lower than the established target, ACOA-assisted firms still outperformed the comparable group in terms of labour productivity growth. Labour productivity in ACOA-assisted firms, estimated using sales per worker, experienced healthy growth between 2011 and 2016. Labour productivity grew by 1.7% per year in ACOA-assisted firms, which was 1.5 percentage points above the group of… | Not met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 3% | 2020 | 0.7% Labour productivity is measured using sales per worker. For the reference period 2012-2017, sales for ACOA clients were 3.9% compared to 0.9% for non-clients. Employment for ACOA clients during this period was 1.8% compared to -0.4% for non-clients. While this shows that ACOA clients were successful in both sales and employment growth. This also means that non-clients continued to experience high… | Not met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 1.5% | 2021 | 0.4% Labour productivity is measured using sales per worker. For the reference period 2013-2018, sales growth for ACOA clients were 4.4% compared to 1.0% for non-clients. Employment growth for ACOA clients during this period was 2.0% compared to -0.9% for non-clients. While this shows that ACOA clients were successful in both sales and employment growth, this also means that non-clients continued to e… | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 0.7% | 2022 | -0.4% Labour productivity is measured using sales per worker. For the reference period 2014-2019, sales growth for ACOA clients were 4.4% compared to 1.2% for non-clients. Employment growth for ACOA clients during this period was 3.1% compared to -0.2% for non-clients. While this shows that ACOA clients were successful in both sales and employment growth, this also means that non-clients continued to e… | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 0.4% | 2023 | -0.4% Labour productivity is measured by sales per worker. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted growth in sales and employment for both ACOA client firms and unassisted firms in 2020, and thus impacted growth in labour productivity. For the reference period 2015-20, sales growth for ACOA clients was 3.0% on average compared to 0.6% for non-clients. Employment growth for ACOA clients during this period was 0.… | Not met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 0% | 2024 | -1% Labor productivity is measured by sales per worker. The COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact growth in sales and employment for both ACOA client firms and unassisted firms in 2021, like in 2020, and thus impacted growth in labour productivity. For the reference period 2016-2021, sales growth for ACOA clients were 5.8% on average compared to 3.3% for non-clients. Employment growth for ACOA client… | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 0% | 2025 | -1.3% Labor productivity is measured by sales per worker. The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic recovery continued to impact growth in sales and employment for both ACOA client firms and unassisted firms in 2022, like in 2020 and 2021, and thus impacted growth in labour productivity. For the reference period 2017-2022, sales growth for ACOA clients were 6.4% on average compared to 4.7% for… | 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 | $47.3M | $85.2M |
| 2019-20 | $56.7M | $112M |
| 2020-21 | $51.3M | $246M |
| 2021-22 | $63.8M | $143M |
| 2022-23 | $83.1M | $141M |
| 2023-24 | $87M | $193M |
| 2024-25 | $91.9M | $150M |
| 2025-26 | $90.8M | — |
| 2026-27 | $126M | — |
| 2027-28 | $126M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $97.7M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 78 | 92 |
| 2019-20 | 81 | 93 |
| 2020-21 | 93 | 99 |
| 2021-22 | 96 | 97 |
| 2022-23 | 97 | 101 |
| 2023-24 | 97 | 97 |
| 2024-25 | 92 | 94 |
| 2025-26 | 93 | — |
| 2026-27 | 94 | — |
| 2027-28 | 94* | — |
| 2028-29 | 92* | — |
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 | $47,309,476 | $46,847,354 | $46,847,354 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $56,720,601 | $49,920,601 | $49,728,684 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $51,303,012 | $50,224,681 | $50,236,759 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $63,839,513 | $54,924,646 | $51,889,213 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $83,059,120 | $64,323,824 | $51,764,852 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $86,961,875 | $51,879,650 | $47,028,375 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $91,892,094 | $86,979,425 | $45,670,376 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $90,802,782 | $48,725,169 | $48,725,169 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $125,616,791 | $125,598,118 | $97,731,586 | ||||||||
| Actual | $85,160,406 | $112,150,441 | $245,917,056 | $142,994,086 | $140,767,821 | $192,552,162 | $149,785,065 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
