Question Period Note: CLEAN TECHNOLOGY

What is the Government of Canada doing to support advances in clean technology and the adoption and commercialization of cleantech?

• The Government of Canada is laying the foundation for a resilient, sustainable and competitive economy by focusing on innovation, the creation of well-paying green jobs and investments in clean technology.

• Cleantech offers significant benefits to Canadians by helping us meet our climate goals and protect our planet for future generations, while driving economic prosperity and employing more than 210,000 people in 2020.

• Budget 2022 proposes significant new funding and measures directed at green economic growth that will help industry remain competitive in the growing net-zero carbon economy, create middle-class jobs and build a clean future for all Canadians.

• Budget 2022 introduces new measures that will boost innovation in clean technology and make it easier and more affordable for Canadians and Canadian businesses to adopt clean technologies, including a Canada Growth Fund that will accelerate the investment of private capital into decarbonization and cleantech projects.
• These budget measures will also position Canada as a leader in the critical minerals that will power the cleantech required for our net-zero emissions future. These new investments will build on existing climate action and achievements to date.
• They will support economy-wide and sector-specific decarbonization that will position our industries as leaders in cleantech and green resources, help more than 200,000 Canadians make their homes greener and invest in world-leading technologies that make industry cleaner and reduce pollution. Cleantech contributed more than $26.8 billion to the Canadian economy in 2020, including the export of about $7.1 billion in goods and services.
• Employees in cleantech are better paid than the average Canadian, and women account for 41 per cent of all cleantech jobs. Women and Indigenous peoples in cleantech are also better compensated on average than the general workforce. And Indigenous peoples are better represented in cleantech compared to the overall economy.

Budget 2022
Specific budget measures for Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada include:
• The $15 billion Canada Growth Fund will accelerate the investment of private capital into decarbonization and cleantech projects; help promote the diversification of Canada’s economy; help meet Canada’s climate targets; and strengthen Canada’s economic resilience and capacity.
• $1 billion over six years for the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), combined with $500 million drawn from existing program funding, to provide $1.5 billion in support for critical minerals projects, with priority to manufacturing, processing and recycling applications. The government will explore opportunities to support the growth of the solar panel industry through this envelope.

Budget 2022 also introduces new tax measures to accelerate cleantech adoption, including a refundable investment tax credit of up to 60 per cent for eligible carbon capture, utilization and storage equipment expenses and expansion of existing accelerated tax deductions for business investments in clean energy equipment to include air-source heat pumps. The government also announced a plan to engage with experts to establish an investment tax credit of up to 30 per cent for net-zero technologies, battery storage solutions and clean hydrogen.

The 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan: Canada’s Next Steps for Clean Air and a Strong Economy
On March 29, 2022, the government published Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP), pursuant to the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act. The ERP includes $9.1 billion in new investments and lays out a roadmap for economy-wide and sector-specific decarbonization that will help Canada stay on track to achieve our emissions reduction targets, secure our strong position in the growing net-zero global economy and support clean, inclusive economic growth that will benefit all Canadians. Recognizing the importance of cleantech in achieving Canada’s clean growth objectives, the ERP commits to a strengthened and coordinated whole-of-government strategy for accelerating the development and deployment of clean technologies. These efforts will build on existing federal climate actions, such as SIF’s $8 billion Net-Zero Accelerator (NZA), and focus on additional opportunities to support Canadian cleantech, including funding to de-risk pre-commercial clean technology trials and pilot projects; transformative investments in large-scale infrastructure that will enable clean electrification and the shift to clean fuels; transformative investments in large-scale infrastructure that will enable clean electrification and the shift to clean fuels; clear policy signals that create economic certainty for industry; tax incentives, including a new investment tax credit for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS); and green public procurement.

Budget 2021
Specific cleantech budget measures identified for ISED included:
• $24 million over three years to renew the Clean Technology Data Strategy to continue to measure the cleantech sector’s contribution to Canada’s economy; and the Clean Growth Hub to continue to help clean technology companies navigate federal resources and supports.
• $5 billion over seven years to increase funding to the Net Zero Accelerator. This support builds on the $3 billion over five years announced in the Strengthened Climate Plan in December 2020. It will allow the government to provide up to $8 billion of support for projects that help reduce domestic GHG emissions across the Canadian economy.
• $1 billion over five years to leverage private investments toward large transformative clean technology projects. This initiative will eliminate risk from decarbonization projects for traditional lenders, bringing down the cost of capital, and making many of these large-scale projects more economically feasible, decarbonizing the Canadian economy and creating new jobs.

Strengthened Climate Plan
In December 2020, the government announced a strengthened climate plan designed to make Canada’s economy stronger and more competitive in the emerging clean global marketplace. This plan is a cornerstone of the government’s commitment in the 2020 Speech from the Throne to create more than 1 million jobs and restore employment to pre-pandemic levels. It includes 64 new measures and $15 billion in investments to build a stronger, cleaner, more resilient and inclusive economy. These measures include:
• Strengthening support for Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) with an additional $750 million over five years.
• Investing to support decarbonization and drive the creation of well-paying, resilient jobs through an $8 billion investment over five years in SIF’s Net-Zero Accelerator.

Speech from the Throne (2021)
The 2021 Speech from the Throne stressed that the government is taking real action to fight climate change, moving to cap-and-cut oil and gas sector emissions, and accelerating our path to a net-zero electricity future. Investing in public transit and mandating the sale of zero -emission vehicles will support climate action. Increasing the price on pollution while putting more money back in Canadians’ pockets will deliver a cleaner environment and a stronger economy.

Supporting Sustainable Development Technology Canada
SDTC is an arm’s-length, not-for-profit organization created by the government to support the development of clean technologies. Since its inception, SDTC has invested $1.38 billion in 460 companies, which have generated $2.8 billion in annual revenues, created nearly 17,000 jobs and brought 177 new technologies to market. These companies have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by about 22.4 megatonnes annually, equivalent to taking almost 7 million cars off the road each year.