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Home : Innovation : Environmental Technologies : Report On The Environmental Technology Sector In Western Canada - November 2003

CONCLUSIONS

As indicated earlier and as demonstrated by the Technologies & Opportunities table each province has capacity and demand in almost every sector. The challenge is to identify where comparative and competitive advantage lies particularly when it comes to new technology development.

The environment sector is not consensus driven and service providers will always be linked to defined problems and needs in the service area. As noted most of the environment sector in western Canada is made up of small to medium sized service providers that respond to local conditions and requirements. For the most part, these will be implemented in the context of provincial strategies, as the jurisdictional basis for key problem areas (water, wastes, contaminated sites, air quality, land use, urban planning, etc.), are largely – though not exclusively – within provincial jurisdiction.

On the other hand Technological solutions that have broad application nationally and internationally will require capital, perseverance, extensive product development and verification activity, as well as market development and promotion. These opportunities require focus as well as strategic partnerships involving private companies, governmental agencies, as well as academic and research institutions. To successfully develop such technologies in a nexus of support it would appear logical to support centers of excellence where such a coalition of interests and comparative and competitive advantage exist.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The following actions are recommended:

1. A comprehensive initiative to support the establishment or strengthening sector-specific centres of excellence and/or government-industry industry clusters in each province to foster the development of innovative environmental technology solutions to global environmental problems. Such centres should bring together the academic, marketing, business development and financial management competencies needed to facilitate the development and commercialization of innovative technologies, services and environmental solutions required in the national and international marketplace. These centres and clusters should be established only where there is a clearly defined, actual or potential critical mass, and a market sufficient to warrant any required investment. For the most part, these centres should be industry led. Green Buildings/Sustainable Construction, Water/Wastewater, Alternative Energy Sources and Contaminated Site/Brownfield Remediation are the most obvious new candidates in this regard. Existing centres and initiatives targeted to this or similar ends should be reviewed to gauge their actual effectiveness.
   
2. A comprehensive research program specific to each province be launched to identify barriers limiting the adoption of innovative technologies and related environmental solutions by municipalities, government departments and agencies and by major industry players in each sector. This should be followed by risk reduction strategies and/or the provision of incentives for the early adoption of innovative technologies, and such industry capacity building measures as:
   
   • Business leaders’ forums to build industry understanding of the importance of supporting enabling technologies and solutions upon which future commercial success depends.
     
   • Targeted programs to support the re-design, re-engineering, and retrofitting of production processes and product lines to increase business resource efficiency and waste reduction in specific sectors, particularly those that face intense competition or that compromise local liveability standards;
     
   • Linking infrastructure renewal dollars to the degree of innovation and local content an organization (i.e. municipality) has included in its funding submission. This could create a stronger presence for local entrepreneurs in local markets without being perceived as being an industry hand-out.
     
   • Targeted strategies for import substitution in those environment-related areas where Western Canada is dependent upon imported products and technologies, primarily in the water/wastewater, solid waste management, air quality management, contaminated site remediation and energy sectors.
     
3. The creation of a comprehensive marketing program to build national and international recognition of Western Canada’s environmental excellence through collaborative programs involving technology demonstration projects; market development and networking activities; and national and international promotional efforts designed to attract new customers and new investment to the sector. This initiative must be carefully choreographed so as to reach the right market audiences in languages that they understand and be supplemented by site visits, focused trade fair/conference presentations, sponsored buyer missions, demonstration projects and on-line and printed materials.
   
4. A program to support demonstration projects, particularly involving large scale, real-world urban showcase sites where Western Canadian environmental technologies, products and services can be tested, verified and displayed in order to attract new national and international customers, and to foster their adoption by local industries and municipalities.
   
5. A pan-Western initiative to encourage venture capital and investment financing in the environmental technologies sector by removing or reducing the risk factors associated with technology verification and commercialization; by providing fiscal incentives to stimulate capital investment in the environmental business sector; and by supporting specialized technical conferences and venture capital venues where investors and potential customers can interact with government agencies, technology research and development organizations, and industry and professional associations. This program could involve an annual venture capital fair in western Canada. Such measures are essential to close the R&D innovation/adoption gap that is behind the inability of environmental firms in Western Canada to attract early stage, proof of concept funding.
   
6. A review should be carried out of the merits of adopting financial incentives similar to those used in other sectors (e.g. fiscal regimes for oil sands development) in the environmental business sector. Financial incentives such as provincial R&D tax credits, renewable energy incentives etc., and other fiscal measures should be examined to determine their overall economic impacts and technology development potential.
   
7. The provision of on-going mentoring for small and medium-sized enterprises in environmental business sectors by working with individual firms and industry associations to improve environmental technology development and commercialization; to provide the tools and up to date intelligence needed to penetrate new markets; and to establish mutually supportive networks to promote the delivery of flexible solutions and technologies for local, regional and international customers.
   
8. A comprehensive review of current government funding programs that support small and medium sized enterprises in the continuum of activities from research and development through to technology development and commercialization. This would include such federal programs as IRAP’s Pre-commercialization Assistance Program and the Program for Export Market Development (PEMD). This review should bring forward recommendations on:
   
   • Improved coordination between available programs;
     
   • Providing more consistency in focus from one jurisdiction to the other;
     
   • Simplifying access to and administrative processes associated with these programs; and
     
   • Instituting provisions for affordable, repayable financing for early stage product development.
     
9. A comprehensive review of government policies, federally, provincially and municipally to ensure that public policy supports private initiative in developing the environmental technology sector. E.g. procurement policies, regulations that impact on demonstration projects etc.

Finally one of the most important elements of any strategy to energize the Western Canadian environmental business sector is the need for all key stakeholders involved to believe in the potential of the sector and to champion its causes. This means that all levels of government and in particular key agencies such as the overseas missions of DFAIT, the on-line services of Industry Canada and other Departments, must recognize and help to promote Western Canada as a source of innovative expertise and technologies for a world very much in need of what we have to offer.

At the Environmental Technologies Forum it is hoped that one or more strategic initiatives recommended herein will be adopted to help enterprises across Western Canada to pursue the business of the environment.

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