More than 2,100 Canadian companies and organizations have signalled their support for a post-pandemic economic recovery plan grounded in the principles of sustainability and resilience and driven by projects that “aren’t just shovel-ready, but shovel-worthy.”
The Resilient Recovery campaign—a collaboration between Clean Energy Canada and the Canada Cleantech Alliance launched in mid-May—has already gathered 280 signatories representing 2,112 companies, all collectively urging federal and provincial governments to commit to a cross-party recovery and resilience plan. The signatories request direct and immediate investment in “Canada’s fast-growing clean energy and cleantech sectors and businesses committed to the local production and export of world-leading low- and zero-carbon commodities,” the expansion of existing initiatives and programs in support of these sectors, and public messaging that communicates “loud and clear that Canada will continue [to] expand on its best-in-class climate and environmental policies.”
Noting that the clean energy sector already employs 298,000 Canadians, the Resilient Recovery campaign urges policy-makers to ensure that no sector or region is left behind. That will require “training and retraining for Canadians whose past jobs may not return, in programs that can and should start now while unemployed workers are sitting at home.”
While many of its signatories are cleantech organizations that have business interests in a green bounceback, the Resilient Recovery campaign notes that such a program could also support “winners across the country” by enhancing competitiveness and creating new opportunities not only in energy but also in “low-carbon concrete, steel and aluminum, the auto sector, sustainably produced mass timber, agriculture, and mining or supplying the metals and minerals used in many clean technologies.”
Signatories include the Canadian Wind Energy Association, lithium battery recycler Recyclico, and AI-based energy management software developer Parity; think tanks such as the Pembina and the Broadbent Institute; several health, social, and environmental non-profits; and a diverse range of small businesses, including Vancouver-based Naked Snacks, Edmonton’s Manasc Isaac Architects, and Toronto’s MaRS startup incubator. There are also at least two international titans on the participant list: Siemens and the Oslo-based risk manager DNV-GL.
“The time is now to invest in people and projects that will diversify our economy and improve our health and well-being,” states the Resilient Recovery campaign page. “It’s how we build a more resilient Canada.”
