Prioritizing Critical Enablers to Accelerate Canada’s Circular Economy

Authored by:

Paul Shorthouse, Managing Director of Circular Economy Leadership Canada

Jo-Anne St. Godard, Executive Director of Circular Innovation Council

Resources have historically been the backbone of Canada’s economy. Yet, our consumption of materials, energy, and water is currently among the highest in the world, not to mention some of the most wasteful. According to the Council of Canadian Academies’ Expert Panel on the Circular Economy, Canada is only 6% circular, with 73% of these resources lost to disposal, much of which still holds value.  

The Expert Panel also found that the circular economy makes Canada more economically prosperous, environmentally sustainable, and socially equitable. However, recalibrating Canada’s economy to deliver on these objectives will require collective and coordinated action across all sectors, governments, communities, and citizens.

The need to take a coordinated and systems approach is why Circular Economy Leadership Canada (CELC) and Circular Innovation Council (CIC) published the first-of-its-kind Circular Economy Action Plan for Canada. As a key output from our Canadian Circular Economy Summit in 2023, it provides a guiding framework for galvanizing Canadian businesses, governments, communities, and other stakeholders toward a shared vision and focused efforts.

The Circular Economy Action Plan for Canada is organized under five critical enablers with specific, underlying near-term priorities and strategic actions. The critical enablers include:

1. Information: Leveraging data, information, education, and training as a foundation for success. 

2. Collaboration: Establishing new partnerships and cultural connections to accelerate change. 

3. Policy and Procurement: Aligning policy, procurement, and standards to drive accelerated circular economy action and investment. 

4. Innovation: Stimulating circular innovation across industries, sectors, and supply chains. 

5. Investment: Directing capital and financing to support circularity and address infrastructure gaps.

Information

Circular economy is a relatively new term in the Canadian context, so raising awareness about its benefits will be key to encouraging its adoption. Information and knowledge-sharing are foundational to accelerating implementation, which must be based on defensible, accessible data, proof points, and evidence-based research. Skills training and education will also be essential to ensuring that a circular economy in Canada moves from concept to action.

To this end, CELC and CIC have come together to co-host the Canadian Circular Economy Summit, taking it to new host cities with diverse partners to expand its reach, facilitate knowledge-sharing, and highlight the unique circular economy efforts and activities happening across the country. 

CELC has also developed case studies showcasing the circular economy's environmental, economic, and social benefits. It promotes these benefits through its Knowledge Series events and on several online platforms. Separately, CELC has been working with CSA Group and other partners on data, indicators, and standardized measurement frameworks to support better decision-making in line with the recently published ISO 59020 standard for measuring the circular economy.

CIC is undertaking market research within various industry sectors to investigate opportunities to restructure markets and introduce policy interventions that support long-term change. This research involves innovative pilot projects, data baselining, and supply and value chain reorganization.  

Additionally, CIC launched an annual public education and awareness campaign, Circular Economy Month, which offers information and resources to help Canadians understand circular economic designs and their capacity to deliver value. It also provides a platform to celebrate circular innovation and leadership across the country.   

Collaboration

Transitioning from current linear industries and supply chains to a more circular economy in Canada will require systems thinking to break down silos and establish new partnerships domestically and internationally while leveraging new approaches and collaborative platforms. Supporting the wide-scale adoption of circular practices will also require engaging across and between industries, cultures, and perspectives to embrace an inclusive approach to circularity.

CELC recently launched a Circular Construction Innovation Hub as one example of a supportive, collaborative platform. Designed as a social and technical innovation lab, the hub is a multi-stakeholder initiative that supports coordination across industry and government, knowledge sharing, and capacity-building across the entire value chain to accelerate the adoption of circular practices within Canada’s construction and real estate sector. 

CELC has also been supporting research in collaboration with the Telfer School of Business to understand better cultural perceptions and practices that align with the circular economy from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous and ethnic communities in Canada.

Through its many pilot programs, CIC facilitates collaborative relationships between and among industries that explore opportunities to synchronize investment, share infrastructure and services, and link supply and value chains to reduce environmental impacts, risks, and costs while creating new opportunities and unlocking innovation. One example is CIC’s ongoing reuse pilot project initiative to test and demonstrate reusable containers in the grocery and food service sectors that kicked off in Ottawa in fall 2024.

Policy & Procurement

Establishing comprehensive, interlinked, and aligned policy frameworks across and between Canadian governments can accelerate and drive opportunities for businesses and industries to invest in circular solutions, giving them stability and certainty. Public procurement can be a strategic tool to drive demand and preference for circular products, services, and solutions at scale. 

In 2024, CELC launched a government-to-government (G2G) circular economy policy incubator initiative designed to break down silos and support strategic multi-disciplinary thinking and planning, enabling the systems approach needed for accelerating a circular economy, innovation, and social impact, as well as providing a mechanism for pooling funds to support research and scaling solutions. 

CELC is also working with HP Canada on a project exploring the benefits of “buying as a service” instead of product ownership, developing a guide to support its adoption.

CIC is working with CSA Group, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and others from the private and public sectors to support the development of new soft-system infrastructure, such as standards and policies that will help a developing circular economy to thrive over the long term.

CIC supports policy advancement at all levels of government, demonstrating the leverage points between economic development, taxonomy, finance, and environmental policy tools and the interconnections between national and subnational level governments.  

Additionally, CIC has established domestic buying groups populated by public sector representatives from across the country to coordinate circular public procurement buying standards and leverage collective buying power.   

Innovation

Innovation is at the core of transforming business practices, industries, and supply chains from their current linear structures to more circular models. Leveraging Canada’s applied research knowledge base while supporting business model innovation can create triple-bottom-line benefits that support economic, social, and environmental objectives. 

To this end, CELC has been supporting the expansion of the Project Zero incubator and accelerator programs, supporting start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) with their efforts to scale and adopt circular business models.

CIC has created community- and sector-based hubs to help connect stakeholders and business interests focused on circular solutions. These hubs provide platforms that deliver networking support, information, and resources to educate users on the circular economy, its concepts, and its benefits.

One example is the design and launch of the Share, Reuse, Repair Hub. Activities within the sharing economy need better organization and more exposure to support communities and small businesses, encouraging behavioural change. CIC’s hub is a community-based resource for share-reuse-repair organizations, programs, and services across cities and regions to increase awareness and foster engagement. Often, such activities are not seen as part of the circular economy, and Canadians may not recognize their link to climate action.

Investment

Finance and investment are critical enablers of the circular economy. They mobilize capital to support business and community efforts while addressing critical infrastructure and system gaps. Engaging with financial institutions, addressing risks, and improving returns will take a coordinated effort, but it must be aligned with business and community priorities. 

CELC has been engaging and working with the finance sector in Canada to identify key risks for investors/lenders; help financial institutions better understand the needs of circular businesses and enhance lending, investment solutions, and financing options; and explore opportunities to expand sustainable finance taxonomy work in Canada to include the circular economy as an environmental objective.

CIC partners with many local governments and businesses to identify common interests and facilitate investment in circular solutions. As a convenor, CIC plays an important role in de-risking innovation and matchmaking.  

Accelerating Action Together

While CELC and CIC are leading several activities and initiatives prioritized within the Circular Economy Action Plan for Canada, they’re but two organizations in a much broader ecosystem of actors and innovators.

Many others are stepping up to lead specific efforts across the country, including businesses, governments, non-profits, academic and applied researchers, and investors. At the same time, there is much more to accomplish. 

We call on Canadian leaders from all sectors and organizations to join us on this most critical mission: to accelerate a climate-smart circular economy that brings economic prosperity through innovation and supports the wellbeing of Canadians today and for future generations.