In 2005 the Canadian federal government initiated a New Deal for Cities and Communities. The program, which involved bilateral agreements with provincial governments, promised substantial funding to municipalities to promote integrated community sustainability through capacity building and infrastructure renewal. We evaluate the content of sustainability plans and the processes that produced them in one region: Atlantic Canada. The findings suggest that although the state mandate and funding resources produced a large number of sustainability plans, changing national political priorities and local desperation for economic and population growth undermined the program’s initial commitment to and potential for environmental and social sustainability.