Canada's Environmental Industry - An Overview

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The Global Environmental Market

Globally, the environmental market is valued at $800 billion. This dynamic market demands a broad variety of constantly evolving environmental technologies, products, and services (see pie chart). Pressures driving these environmental demands include: 

• Pollution prevention, cleaner production, and eco-efficiency
• Human health and quality of life
• Regulation and government funding initiatives
• Government priorities, e.g. Kyoto Protocol.

Canadian firms provide many innovative solutions the global environmental market requires. Our environmental industry offers effective and efficient solutions to environmental concerns, including: 

• Water and wastewater technologies
• Environmental engineering
• Clean energy technologies
• Waste management technologies
• Remediation technologies
• Instrumentation and analytical services.

Canada’s environmental industry adds value to key segments of our economy, creating employment and increasing productivity; as well as improving our quality of life and helping to preserve the natural landscape.

Global Environmental Market by Sector

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Source: Global Environmental Markets and the UK Environmental Industry Opportunities to 2010, 2002.

Canada's Performance

Valued at more than $29 billion, the environmental market in Canada consists of some 8 000 firms generating environmental exports currently worth more than $1.4 billion per year. Small firms (fewer than 100 employees) form the majority (93 percent) of the country’s environmental firms.

Environmental firms can be found throughout Canada:

• Ontario (31%)
• Quebec (21%)
• Alberta (14%)
• British Columbia (16%)
• Manitoba/Saskatchewan (7%)
• Atlantic Canada (10%)
• Territories (0.8%).

Source: Statistics Canada, Cat. No. 16F0008XIE, 2004

Rising Demand

The global demand for environmental technologies is rising (see bar chart). Increasingly, the market is driven by concerns about clean water, clear air, and climate change. Demand is expected to grow mostly in the areas of clean technologies and green energy (biomass, solar, wind, water, and methane recovery).

Canadian firms are well positioned to meet environmental concerns with innovative solutions developed by talented people. According to the 2004 Environmental Labour Market Report ¹, the Canadian environmental workforce employs approximately 251 000 people, posting a growth rate of 13.7 percent between 1999 and 2003 - a growth rate 60 percent faster than the growth of the Canadian workforce as a whole over the same period.

Accounting for 66 percent of employment in the environmental sector, environmental practitioners are the backbone of the environmental workforce. Their numbers grew by 63 percent from 1999 to 166 000 individuals in 2003 ². Interestingly, only 36 percent of environmental practitioners actually work in the environment industry, 29 percent work in other industries, with the balance (35 percent) employed in the public sector, NGOs and associations.

Growth of Global Environmental Markets 2000-2010

d

* CEE & CIS = Central and Eastern Europe & Commonwealth of Independent States

Source: Global Environmental Markets and the UK Envir onmental Industry Opportunities to 2010, 2002.

Seizing Opportunities

Corporations throughout the world are striving to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable development. This challenge presents domestic and international growth opportunities for Canada’s environmental industry. To remain innovative and competitive, Canada’s environmental industry is working to continually generate, adapt, and integrate marketable technologies.

Canadian companies are devising innovative solutions in many environmental areas, including:

• Water treatment (ultraviolet radiation, biology, membrane systems, desalination)
  
  
• Clean energy (fuel cells, small-hydro, wind, biomass, solar, thermal)
  
  
• Geographic Information Systems (instrumentation, monitoring, analysis, marine acoustics)
  
  
• Environmental management (software and systems).

For more information: 

Sustainable Technologies and Service Industries Branch
Industry Canada
strategis.gc.ca/stsib

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¹The Canadian Council for Human Resources in the Environment Industry, Environmental Labour Market (ELM) Report, 2004. (return)

²Ibid (return)