The government of Canada has signed the agreement to invest up to nearly C$153 million ($116 million), matched dollar for dollar by the private sector, in the Atlantic Canada–based Ocean Supercluster.
The Ocean Supercluster is formed by a group of businesses, post-secondary institutions and non-profits working together to accelerate innovation and sustainable economic growth from Canada’s oceans.
The funding agreement means the supercluster can move ahead with activities to harness emerging technologies to strengthen Canada’s ocean industries such as marine renewable energy , fisheries, aquaculture, oil and gas, defense, shipbuilding and transportation.
According to government projections, the supercluster will create more than 3,000 jobs and add more than C$14 billion to Canada’s economy over 10 years.
Announcing the agreement, Navdeep Bains , Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development of Canada, said: “Canada’s oceans are a national treasure; they represent a unique opportunity for innovation, scientific research and sustainable business development.
“By bringing together small, medium-sized and large companies, academic institutions and not-for-profit organizations, we’re creating an unprecedented partnership and fostering the culture that will lead to shared business opportunities, economic growth, and the creation of thousands of good jobs.”
Kendra MacDonald , Ocean Supercluster’s CEO, said: “The team remains very focused on building our project pipeline and identifying cluster building activities. This is an incredible opportunity for the region and the country to sustainably grow the ocean economy.”
Superclusters are dense areas of business activity where many middle-class jobs are created. They attract large and small companies that collaborate with universities, colleges and not-for-profit organizations to turn ideas into solutions that can be brought to market.
Canada’s Innovation Superclusters Initiative is projected to create more than 50,000 jobs and grow the country’s GDP by more than C$50 billion over the next 10 years.