About the Agreement

• Agreement History – a brief overview of the Agreement since its inception in 1994
• Program Areas – a description of the four strategic areas targetted by this Agreement
• Priority Sectors and Markets – a list of the priority sectors and markets
• Agreement Partners – a list of the federal and provincial partners in this Agreement

Agreement History

The Canada / Atlantic Provinces Agreement on International Business Development sets out to fund activities that help enterprising companies overcome obstacles and seize fresh opportunities for growth and prosperity. Overall, this Agreement provides a forum for the federal and provincial governments to work together toward a common goal: increased economic performance in Atlantic Canada through increased exports.

The original Agreement was signed in 1994 for a total value of $3 million. The Agreement has been extended three times since then, most recently in 2005 for five years with an additional $10 million of investment.

The funding of the Agreement is cost-shared between the federal government (70%) and the provincial governments (30%).

The goals of this Agreement are:

• to increase the number of exporters in Atlantic Canada;
• to help diversify the markets of current exporters; and
• to increase the overall value of export sales from the region.

To help meet these objectives, the Agreement relies heavily on four areas of programming:

• Export Training and Awareness
• Market Information and Intelligence
• International Business Development Activities
• Planning and Research