On the morning of June 18, at the MaRS Centre in Toronto, some of Atlantic Canada’s best minds met with their counterparts from Ontario for a day of discussion, networking, and debate about “The Road to Prosperity” in the Atlantic region. The 2010 East Coast Connected Atlantic Business Summit got off to an enthusiastic start. The introductory speeches to this third Summit shone through with a commitment to the future prosperity of Atlantic Canada, but also contained a sober recognition of the challenges facing the eastern provinces.

Previous Summits took the time to identify issues and hammer out areas of mutual concern. But as ECC President Jay Dingwall observed, “We were challenged last year [at the 2009 Atlantic Business Summit] to provide more than just ‘talking heads.’ This year, with our format, we will deliver strategies of tangible use.” Much of the format of the 2010 Summit was therefore geared towards this end, including breakout discussion groups, more audience participation, and a specific agenda.

That agenda was “The Future Prosperity of Atlantic Canada.” This meant a continual return to some of the pressing issues facing the region, including its demographic challenges, the aging population, and the business outlook in the wake of each of these issues.

_{Hon. Frank Corbett, Deputy Premier, Province of Nova Scotia. Photo credit: Graham Huber}

The Hon. Frank Corbett, Deputy Premier of Nova Scotia, started the discussion off with humour and candour. Describing the “crowded podium” of great places in Atlantic Canada, he observed that “we tend to think of our ‘down-home’ hospitality as kind of parochial, but that’s not the case. We like to make people feel welcome, and that comes from our pride of place.” That pride has, of late, been increasing. “There really is a newfound sense of optimism.”

Mr. Corbett described that optimism as stemming from an explosion of new business, renewed investments in infrastructure, and a diversified energy industry. He highlighted how organizations like Nova Scotia Come to Life were working “to dispel old stereotypes” about the province, and pointed to their efforts in attracting new people (and enticing old ones back) to the area. But this wasn’t just to showcase the region for its own sake. The hard facts are there for all to see: looming mass retirements and economic growth will result in a deficit of available workers. “We need your help,” Corbett said. “More than 56,000 jobs will become available in the upcoming years.” He cited the strategies Nova Scotia was taking to address this, including “immigrant job strategies,” “increasing college spots,” and “aggressive energy plans using renewable energy.”

_{Dr. J. Colin Dodds - President and Vice Chancellor, Saint Mary’s University. Photo credit: Graham Huber.}

Dr. Colin Dodds, President of St. Mary’s University in Halifax, echoed the Deputy Premier’s optimism. “We are on the road to prosperity,” he said. “But there are some challenges on this road.” Identifying demographics and global competitiveness as two of the region’s biggest obstacles, Dr. Dodds insisted that all provinces take an active hand in “planning for an older population,” and “thinking globally.” “Immigration and the universities can assist us to address these matters,” he said.

Citing the work he had done with a C.D. Howe Institute conference, he named other countries who were trying to be competitive globally, and the areas the Atlantic region would have to compete in. “They share investments in physical infrastructure, and they share investments in human capital,” he said. In this respect, one area in which Atlantic Canada could take a lead was in education, which he identified as “a global currency, the key attribute to playing on the world’s stage.” Many regional centres in Atlantic Canada already share these investments, he noted, and this must be capitalised upon with more support. “Seventy percent of new jobs in the future require some element of post-secondary education,” he observed.

The region’s entrepreneurial flair would also help to bring it to the world’s attention. “East Coasters, whether native to the region or imported, all seem to share an entrepreneurial spirit,” he observed. This spirit would be key in addressing a hugely important factor in the upcoming demographic gap: “financing the succession from the Baby Boomers to the next generation. The talent will likely be there to take on the business, but we’re not yet sure how it will be financed.”

Still, it wasn’t all about numbers and the looming financing gap. The opening remarks of the 2010 Atlantic Business Summit were warm and hopeful, with a constant return to the quality of living offered in Atlantic Canada. “We offer a work-life balance that is second to none,” said Deputy Premier Corbett. Dr. Dodds was more to the point. “Lake Ontario doesn’t cut it! We have an ocean,” he said to laughs from the audience.

Stay tuned over the coming days for further Summit Diaries from the 2010 Atlantic Business Summit, including:

• Kevin Stolarick’s “Away; Not Gone for Good – The Future Prosperity of Atlantic Canada”

• Breakout Discussion Groups: “The Future of Atlantic Canada: Demographic Bust to Economic Boom”

• “Changes and Opportunities on the Road to Prosperity,” a keynote discussion with Elizabeth Beale, Elizabeth Parr-Johnston and Barbara Pike

• “The Lobster Trap,” an exciting “angel investment” panel featuring some of Canada’s outstanding new business innovators