Finance committee  Thank you very much.

Finance committee  I think that in Nova Scotia there are a number of opportunities. I've referred several times to the ICT sector, which is really enjoying tremendous growth. I think there's a lot more potential there. Again, in my opening remarks I talked about the number of post-secondary institutions we have.

Finance committee  There were a number of things in the Ivany report. A follow-up group was established called the One Nova Scotia Coalition, co-chaired by the premier of Nova Scotia. Really, a couple of areas are already the focus of our work. One was on growing the number of exporters. We know that we had more work to do there and, as I mentioned earlier, there's a lot of potential to grow exporters.

Finance committee  The innovation energy summit is actually taking place next week, on Monday, and I'm participating in it. Part of the intent is to celebrate the success that a number of Mi’kmaq groups in Nova Scotia have had in terms of wind energy. Private sector players will be there as well.

Finance committee  I don't have specific figures in terms of what the impact would be, but if a decision were to be made to proceed with that I know that a number of the companies in Nova Scotia that have a lot of experience in bidding on major projects and initiatives would certainly be very interested in it, and they would obviously look to create additional revenues and grow their workforces.

Finance committee  I would see it perhaps in the middle. I would see it as having a very positive impact, without knowing exactly what some of the requirements are. It's something that certainly is on our radar, as are other major projects, and we've assisted many companies. For example, we work with companies around the national shipbuilding procurement strategy, where we've arranged for industry days and made companies aware of the opportunities.

Finance committee  Assuming that our companies are willing to step up and that their capabilities match the opportunities, yes.

Finance committee  That would go back to our service standards. In terms of a business development program for a commercial enterprise like Acadian, our service standard is 75 days 90% of the time.

Finance committee  To date, it's certainly been my experience in Nova Scotia that if there is a good project, if they're seeking ACOA funding, and if it meets the criteria, then there are very few cases, if any, where we've not been able to support that. If the decision was made to provide the agency with additional resources, could we utilize those funds to focus more on innovation and diversification?

Finance committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair. To start out, there are a couple of points I would make. We do have a significant presence. We, ACOA, are staffed outside of Halifax. For example, on mainland Nova Scotia there are approximately 12 people who are actually physically based and work with clients outside the Halifax area.

Finance committee  It's not an issue that has been brought to my attention. I think the current structure helps us to be aligned with the overall priorities within the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. In fact, many of the priorities.... I referred to the Atlantic growth strategy earlier on, which involves all four Atlantic provinces as well as the federal government.

Finance committee  Yes. Again, thanks for the question. It varies from year to year. If we happen to have an unusually large project, the percentage can be greater. In some years, we might see upwards of perhaps 15% or 20% of our investment going into start-up companies. If I could just dwell on start-ups, too, the definition is....

Finance committee  There have been independent analyses done with the assistance of Statistics Canada for the support that ACOA provides. Roughly, it's about $5.40 for every dollar that we've invested, that is, $5.40 in increased GDP for the region.

Finance committee  Typically, what we do if a client or a company approaches us looking for assistance is that we'll work with them to help shape the proposal and ensure that it meets our criteria. What we try to do early on if there's not a fit, or if there are some significant gaps that the company needs to address—for example, they might not have their share of financing or they might need to do some more work in identifying a market—is that we'll steer them in that direction.

Finance committee  Thank you for the question. We are doing a number of things to increase the amount of private sector investment that's coming to Nova Scotia in particular. One of the things that we've had for four years running now is the Atlantic Venture Forum, which is held once a year in June.