The global demand for clean innovation – new technologies, products and practices that improve environmental performance – is rapidly growing. Accelerating the pace of clean innovation in Canada is not only an important tool for meeting climate and environmental goals, it also represents a critical economic opportunity across all Canadian sectors.

Canada’s cleantech sector can tap into a fast-growing global market that is expected to be worth as much as C$2.5 trillion by 2020. Resource and manufacturing sectors can also gain market advantage through clean innovation. For example, McKinsey estimates that improvements in energy and resource efficiency will represent a C$3.8 trillion economic opportunity by 2030.

This research initiative seeks to define the clean innovation opportunity, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of Canada's performance, and to identify the key opportunities for public and private actors to accelerate the pace of clean innovation.

On March 15, Smart Prosperity Institute launched a Clean Innovation campaign, led by the high-profile Smart Prosperity Leaders. This major release is supported by 2 key documents:

Smart Prosperity Institute Discussion Paper: Canada’s Next Edge: Why Clean Innovation is Critical to Canada’s Economy and How We Get it Right. Backing up the Leaders' report is a 150-page “deep-dive” guide from Smart Prosperity Institute that we hope will become the go-to reference for policy and research experts on clean innovation. Smart Prosperity Institute’s findings for this report have been informed by over three years of work on clean innovation, including a conference, two workshops, in-depth studies, and over 40 interviews with a broad cross-section of Canadian and international experts in clean innovation. Click to view the discussion paper.

Smart Prosperity Leaders’ Report: A landmark 30-page report on “Clean Innovation: Why it Matters & How to Accelerate it Across the Canadian Economy.” Clean innovation is an economy-wide opportunity that Canada must grasp or risk falling behind. The report lists six key recommendations to accelerate innovation for a stronger, cleaner economy that benefits all Canadians. Click to view on the Smart Prosperity Leaders’ Initiative site.