Also called APECA, Business Development Program
What is the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency?
The federal agency that funds business growth in the four Atlantic provinces.
What else it is called
- Other names
- APECA, Business Development Program
- In French
- Agence de promotion économique du Canada atlantique
Related entries
Understanding atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
The federal regional development agency for Atlantic Canada. For a manufacturer the relevant stream is its business development programme, which provides repayable, generally interest-free contributions towards projects that grow capacity or productivity: new equipment, plant expansion, process improvement, and the costs of entering new markets.
The distinction from a bank matters. The money is repayable but unsecured in the usual sense and carries no interest, which makes it cheaper than debt and suitable for projects a lender would find hard to assess. It is not a grant, and it is not automatic: projects are assessed on whether they would proceed without the support and what they do for the regional economy.
It also funds projects run by industry associations and economic development organizations rather than by individual companies, which is how training programmes, sector initiatives and shared facilities often get paid for.
In practice
A productivity project that a bank will not lend against because the payback is in avoided labour rather than new revenue is the kind of thing this programme exists for.
Frequently asked
Is this a grant?
For a company, normally no. Support to businesses is usually a repayable, interest-free contribution. Non-repayable funding is more common for projects run by associations and economic development organizations than for individual firms.
Can we use this alongside the research tax credit?
Yes, but government assistance reduces the expenditure base on which a tax credit is calculated, so the two do not simply add together. Plan them with an advisor who understands both.