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Canadian government invests $1.04M in UBC to help local businesses apply circular economy practices

Government of Canada invests in first-of-its-kind project in B.C. to help businesses create more value and less waste (CNW Group/Pacific Economic Development Canada)

KELOWNA — On Nov. 16, Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada (PacifiCan) announced $1.04 million in funding to the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus (UBCO) to help local businesses implement circular economy practices.

In a circular economy, nothing is waste. The circular economy retains and recovers as much value as possible from resources by reusing, repairing, refurbishing, remanufacturing, repurposing, or recycling products and materials.

With this PacifiCan funding, UBCO will connect local businesses with the engineering expertise needed to save industrial materials from landfill, while designing new green products from fully bio-sourced materials. UBCO will also buy new equipment and expand its advanced materials and manufacturing testing capabilities so that more companies can access this support. Technical knowledge developed through these projects will be saved in a digital repository to help current and future companies embrace the circular economy.

Minister Sajjan made the announcement while celebrating the launch of UBCO’s Clean Tech Hub, an innovation space that received $1.9M from PacifiCan in 2021. This investment is helping UBCO catalyze academic-industry collaborations that help Canadian companies bring their technologies and products to domestic and international markets.

This morning, Minister Sajjan also announced the opening of new PacifiCan offices in Kelowna and Cranbrook. Our expanded footprint means PacifiCan will be more accessible to British Columbians.

“Collaboration between industry and researchers helps solve tough problems—and creates new opportunities. By partnering with the University of British Columbia to grow the circular economy, the Government of Canada is helping make B.C. businesses more competitive as they build a prosperous net-zero economy,” said Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada.