By Kendra MacDonald and Anya Waite 

Kendra MacDonald (photo at left) is CEO of Canada’s Ocean Supercluster. Dr. Anya Waite (photo at right) is CEO and Scientific Director of the Ocean Frontier Institute.

As Canada looks to secure its place in the global low carbon economy, Canada’s Budget 2025 and the Build Canada plan make it clear: now is the time to invest in national resilience, domestic innovation, and long-term productivity.

But there’s a strategic asset that’s still missing from this conversation – the ocean. This particularly true in a melting Arctic, where ocean assets are under new scrutiny.

While Canada’s vast marine territory is often treated as a geographic feature or an environmental concern, it is actually a centre of economic activity, scientific leadership and global opportunity. Though the ocean is where much of our climate risk resides, it’s also where we can significantly tackle those climate challenges, while future-proofing infrastructure and creating exportable solutions and economic growth. If we act with intent, Canada is well-positioned to lead globally on this front.

The ocean economy: under-leveraged and overdue

Canada has the world’s longest coastline and the fourth-largest ocean territory. Despite this, and despite the global ocean economy being set to outpace the growth of the broader global economy by 2030, our ocean economy contributes just 2.1 percent to national GDP – significantly lagging the global average.

This gap isn’t about a lack of potential. It’s a result of underinvestment in marine innovation, infrastructure development and public-private partnerships that could unlock a new wave of clean growth.

At Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, we have seen what is possible. Since 2018, we have helped form more than 200 new ocean companies and over 300 cross-sector partnerships, enabling clean tech solutions – like AI-enabled fish tracking and carbon-smart marine coatings – to reach commercial scale. These projects span sectors from aquaculture to shipbuilding to offshore renewables, creating thousands of jobs and helping Canadian companies expand into global markets.

With Budget 2025 emphasizing clean growth, domestic procurement and productivity, there’s a unique opportunity to scale this momentum. Ocean-based technologies and solutions should be included in national infrastructure planning, procurement strategy, and export development.

Clean tech competitiveness depends on science

The ocean economy cannot grow on technology alone; it needs trusted, transparent science to ensure responsible deployment.

At the Ocean Frontier Institute, we are working across disciplines to understand how carbon moves through marine ecosystems, how biodiversity is changing, and how coastal communities are being impacted. This research provides the evidence base that companies, regulators and investors need to make smart, low-risk decisions.

Earlier this year, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster worked with multiple partners, including the Ocean Frontier institute, to complete Canada’s first Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (mCDR) study – an assessment of the opportunity mCDR offers Canada, and the potential to develop and scale mCDR approaches safely and equitably. 

The opportunity presented by mCDR comes firstly as a significant tool to aid Canada’s transition to a low-carbon economy by providing significant potential for reducing net emissions, and secondly as an economic growth driver enabling Canada’s ocean sector to become as big as its current electricity utility sector in terms of GDP contribution, job growth and capital investment by 2050 – strongly aligned with Canada’s climate competitiveness strategy.

The summary report of the mCDR study outlines three immediate actions for Canada:

1. Invest in national ocean monitoring and data infrastructure to be able to track impacts and changing conditions.
2. Develop a governance framework that includes Indigenous leadership and public transparency.
3. Support real-world projects that connect Canadian innovation with ocean science.

These are not just environmental recommendations; they are economic drivers. The countries that can back their clean tech with high-integrity data, oversight and credibility will lead the global market. Canada has the science, technology and expertise to do just that.

Ocean action is economic action

Other countries are already moving.  In Singapore, the largest facility in the world to remove CO₂ from the ocean will begin operations in 2026. The European Union Ocean Pact is working to scale marine carbon dioxide removal.

Canada’s ocean advantage is real, but it won’t last if we’re outpaced on investment, coordination or strategy.

To stay competitive, we must align R&D, industry deployment, and export policy. That means making room for ocean in national conversations, not just around climate, but around clean growth, trade, and nation-building.

The ocean is a platform for high-quality jobs, Indigenous enterprise, coastal resilience and national innovation. But to fully realize this opportunity, we must treat it as a core part of our economic strategy.

That means:

• Investing in workforce development to ensure Canadians are trained and equipped for emerging opportunities in the ocean economy.
• Including ocean technologies and data infrastructure in Build Canada investments.
• Prioritizing cross-sector ocean clean tech in federal procurement, aligned with the Buy Canadian strategy.
• Expanding science capacity that underpins global credibility.
• Supporting Indigenous leadership and youth engagement as part of an equitable, future-ready transition.

Call to action

We’re not starting from scratch. The foundations are here: Canadian science, Canadian innovation, Canadian coastlines, and a rising generation of ocean leaders already exist. What we need now is alignment, so our ocean sector becomes a strategic part of how we build, compete and grow.

Marine carbon dioxide removal is one example where Canada has the winning conditions to build an industry that could grow beyond today’s electricity industry with the right investment and the support of a strong regulatory framework.

We need to make sure the ocean is a key part of Canada’s clean growth conversation. Let’s build Canada by building the ocean economy.

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