A Major Year of Research for Foresight Canada

Article
November 3, 2023

Foresight is on a mission to accelerate the development and adoption of clean technologies across Canada to make it the first G7 country to achieve net zero emissions. Foresight is working with industry, ventures, government, investors, and academia in support of achieving this audacious goal. Building knowledge of the cleantech ecosystem in Canada through research is one way we do this. In the past year, Foresight has developed the climate and water toolkit, a snapshot of the water tech ecosystem, skillsets for a clean economy workforce, and a picture of the low-carbon hydrogen ecosystem. Let’s look at these research projects and how they help us achieve our goals.  

    1. Climate and Water Toolkit - 7 Value Propositions for Water Tech Ventures: Water is intrinsically linked to the climate crisis but often goes unnoticed in the climate conversation. Addressing the growth of the water tech ecosystem will be necessary to reduce GHG emissions. Both investors and end-users of water technology will play a crucial role in the sector's development, and therefore, it is beneficial to showcase the technology’s value to them. Through this research, Foresight highlighted the need for ventures to identify and articulate the climate value proposition of water tech and laid out communications tools to better showcase the link between water technology and climate. View the report.
    2. Water Technology in Canada - A Snapshot of the Ecosystem: Foresight developed Canada’s Water Technology Ecosystem Map (CWTEM) by compiling a database of water tech innovators, research organizations, and enabler organizations across Canada and conducted an analysis of this map to fill gaps in knowledge on the national water technology sector. The idea is to identify regional and sectoral strengths and opportunities and build successful collaborations across the water ecosystem. In conducting this research, Foresight has helped ecosystem stakeholders like the government understand where targeted funding is needed, helping to accelerate the growth of the water tech sector. View the report.
    3. Building Skills for a Clean Economy: A skilled workforce is necessary to support the transition to a clean economy as Canada achieves its net zero commitments. Government, academic institutions, and supporting organizations will all play an integral role in supporting this transition. In this research, Foresight helped identify specific skill sets that will likely be considered ‘in-demand’ across multiple climate jobs and indispensable across different industries. We also recommended increasing financial support for research and development of innovative training programs, awareness and understanding of the cleantech sector, adoption of cleantech-related standards, and developing ecosystem partners between stakeholders to close gaps in the workforce. This could help new entrants and the existing workforce to transition to clean economy jobs. View the report. 
    4. Painting the Picture - Metro Vancouver’s Future Low-Carbon Hydrogen Ecosystem: This research was undertaken to help stakeholders visualize the hydrogen sector's path forward in Metro Vancouver. Foresight helped identify potential use cases for hydrogen in the Lower Mainland and examined hydrogen-based federal and provincial policies across Canada and potential competitor and consumer jurisdictions of hydrogen. Through this research, different stakeholders like industry and government are able to foresee the domestic and international demand and competition for hydrogen produced in BC versus other jurisdictions. Stakeholders can anticipate demand, plan, invest in hydrogen, and seize the opportunity at the right time to help support the transition to a clean future. View the report.

In the past year, Foresight’s research offerings have helped build a thriving cleantech ecosystem across Canada. Cleantech knowledge supporting the growth of the water tech and low-carbon hydrogen ecosystems can help identify opportunities for the adoption of these technologies. Helping build skill sets for a clean economy will help the workforce adapt to changes and further support the sector’s strength through talent. 

Foresights holds unique, in-depth knowledge of Canadian cleantech ventures. Its extensive network and close interaction with a large number of ventures across Canada have provided Foresight with critical cleantech company data. If you want to learn more about how Foresight can help you with research, please complete this form

Can we help with your cleantech research?

Read more about our research services and view our reports

Contact Alyssa Kelly, Director of Research, to learn more: [email protected]

About Foresight Canada

Foresight is Canada’s cleantech accelerator. Foresight supports the identification and validation of cleantech opportunities and the successful commercialization of solutions. We bring together industry, government, academia, investors, and innovators to address today’s most urgent climate issues and support a global transition to a green economy. Find out more at www.foresightcac.com. Follow on Twitter @ForesightCAC.