Adjusting the Sails

Executive Summary

This year’s Atlantic Canada Momentum Index offers evidence of a region at a critical juncture. The strong momentum outlined in last year’s index has slowed as the region struggles to adapt to the challenges that come with boom times and unprecedented population growth. Momentum remains positive, but it is more tentative now. Of the 25 indicators chosen for this study, 15 exhibit momentum (60 percent), down from the year before, when 16 of 20 indicators (80 percent) showed momentum.

Relative to Canada as a whole, where 17 of 25 indicators exhibit momentum, the region is lagging slightly. The driver of this weaker performance is slower
economic growth; although still showing momentum in Atlantic Canada, it was stronger in the rest of the country.

Worryingly, the exceptional sense of belonging that has been a point of pride and advantage for the region declined sharply in this year’s index, though it still stands higher than the national average. Some pressing challenges, such as housing and health care, are significant but not unique to the region.

The index still shows considerable points of strength, including population, median age, employment and labour productivity. But to ensure that momentum continues — and is not a post-pandemic blip in a bleaker historic trend — a concerted and co-ordinated effort to better spur and manage growth is needed.