Canada Supports Industry Development Through the Atlantic Shipbuilding Action Plan

Canada Supports Industry Development Through the Atlantic Shipbuilding Action Plan

Senator Michael MacDonald, on November 2, addressed the members of Atlantic Canada’s Aboriginal business community at a supplier development information session organized under the Atlantic Shipbuilding Action Plan.

The Senator was speaking on behalf of the Honourable Bernard Valcourt, Associate Minister of National Defence and Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency) (La Francophonie) and the Honourable John Duncan, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.

“Our Government is committed to creating the right conditions for economic growth and job creation, including our Aboriginal people and communities,” said Senator MacDonald. “Our $33-billion investment in shipbuilding will generate tremendous opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises throughout Atlantic Canada, and this information session will help our Aboriginal business community to understand these opportunities, as well as government and industry support tools that can help them prepare for related supply chains.”

Today’s session was organized by ACOA, in partnership with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and Irving Shipbuilding Inc. The session is a key component of the Atlantic Shipbuilding Action Plan, which was designed to help Atlantic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) understand and be part of the shipbuilding procurement process while addressing areas such as innovation capacity, certification and the workforce skills they need to compete as suppliers and sub-contractors.

“Sessions such as these showcase how our Government, under the Federal Framework for Aboriginal Economic Development, continues to work with Aboriginal people and communities to enable them to seize real, significant and sustainable economic opportunities. I encourage all Atlantic Aboriginal business owners to attend a session so that they can gain the information required to become a potential supplier,” said the Honourable John Duncan, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.

To date, 11 supplier development information sessions have taken place throughout Atlantic Canada. Held between February and August 2012, these sessions attracted 872 participants from a wide range of Atlantic SMEs who received timely and relevant information and advice on how to access the various upcoming shipbuilding supply chain opportunities.

Additional Atlantic Shipbuilding Action Plan activities included a Marine and Defence Supplier Development Industry Day which took place in Ottawa, Ontario, in May. More than 100 representatives of Atlantic SMEs took part in this event, which enabled them to have one-on-one meetings with sub-contractors who could be involved in the shipbuilding supply chain.

In September, an Innovation Showcase was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, providing a key opportunity for Atlantic businesses and researchers to promote their innovative products and services to domestic and international marine and defence sub-contractors.

More than 1,000 Atlantic SMEs from both urban and rural communities have benefited from the vital information they obtained and the contacts they made as a result of Atlantic Shipbuilding Action Plan initiatives. In the months ahead, ACOA will continue its work to help businesses prepare to maximize the opportunities that will flow from the renewal of Canada’s naval and Coast Guard fleet by:

  • leading a delegation of Atlantic firms to Exponaval, Latin America’s premier maritime and naval exhibition, to assist the region’s companies in identifying global marine supply chain opportunities;
  • organizing an Atlantic Marine and Defence Forum to assess the current capacity of Atlantic industry, examine successes achieved to date and examine ways to further strengthen the region’s industry through export development, innovation, and skills and labour force development; and
  • announcing the results of a third-party analysis of the Atlantic marine industry to identify existing regional infrastructure and the capabilities and capacities of the region’s SMEs.

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Press Release, November 07, 2012; Image: capebretonsenator