Eastern Canada business leaders call for ‘single economy’ between Atlantic provinces

RIVERVIEW, N.B. — Atlantic Canada could become one of the country’s most prosperous regions if it leverages its abundant talent and resources as a “single economy,” a group of business leaders say.

The Atlantic Economic Panel — made up of seven well-known executives and entrepreneurs — released a report Friday that it says could serve as a guide for the economic transformation of the four provinces by 2035.

Panel chairman Don Mills, president of the investment firm Crane Cove Holdings Ltd., said the report is a call to action for a region that has long lagged behind the rest of Canada.

“For decades, we have struggled to close the gap between … what the region could be and what it has become,” Mills told about 100 business and political leaders at a launch event in Riverview, N.B.

Mills said Atlantic Canada’s gross domestic product growth has underperformed when compared with the national GDP by one per cent a year for three decades.

Recommendations in the report are aimed at boosting Atlantic Canada’s economic output above the national average.

However, the panelists stressed that the report will be worthless unless the provincial governments, businesses and residents take action.

“This report is not about potential,” Mills said. “We’re tired of talking about potential … Let’s get it done.”

The panel’s report says the region’s economy is now suffering from low productivity, labour shortages and complex regulations and trade barriers that prevent businesses from being nimble.

As a result, Atlantic Canada is not growing as quickly as other parts of Canada, and it has the country’s most rapidly aging workforce.

To address those challenges, the report puts forward seven recommendations, the first of which advocates for the creation of a “One Atlantic Canada” agenda.

The goal is to bring the provinces together to function as one economy for its 2.7 million residents, while maintaining their own governments.

There is no talk of a political union of any sort.

Each province — Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador — would be required to remove all trade and labour mobility barriers, a process that has already started, and present every major investment opportunity through a single, regional investment platform.

As well, the panel’s one-economy strategy calls for delivering at least half of all major infrastructure projects through regional partnerships. And a workforce strategy is needed to ensure workers’ credentials are recognized across the region, the report says.

Another key recommendation aimed at closer collaboration calls for the creation of an integrated electricity system that would be managed by a region-wide independent system operator. Making that idea a reality would require a whopping $25 billion in infrastructure investment, the report says.

Panelist Scott McCain, chairman of New Brunswick-based McCain Foods, said creating a single economy will get capital flowing to a region starving for investment.

“Anybody in this room ever heard of the Golden Rule?” he asked the audience during a question-and-answer session.

“The Golden rule is: ‘He who has the gold makes the rules.'”

On another front, the panel recommends growing the region’s population to more than three million people, doubling the number of businesses exporting to global markets, and doubling exports to Europe.

The panel’s report recognizes that its recommendations come with a huge price tag. That’s why there’s a suggestion to create a $1-billion private sector Atlantic Prosperity Fund.

There is also an emphasis on speeding up approvals for major projects and increasing the value of Atlantic Canada’s natural resource economy by at least 50 per cent by mobilizing $100 billion in new investment.

Many of the targets in the report are ambitious. The word “double” appears nine times in the document.

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt told the audience that the report is not about forcing each of the provinces to be the same.

“We each have different realities and different geographies, but we all share a similar spirit and sense of Atlantic values,” Holt said, adding that collaboration is nothing new for the region.

As an example, she pointed to a recent agreement signed between New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and P.E.I. to work together on meeting future energy needs.

The premier also drew attention to the report’s call for expanding exports to Europe.

“I can’t wait to see what’s going to come as we all tighten our bonds to each other. We’ll wrap those sailor’s knots more tightly as we face the wind and we take it at our sails — and we sail off towards Europe.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2026.