Canada’s Ocean Supercluster Launches National Research on Perceptions and Pathways to Ocean Careers 

For Immediate Release  
October 3, 2024  

(Ottawa, ON) – Canada’s Ocean Supercluster (OSC) launched a new research report today titled “Careers in an Evolving Ocean Industry: Perceptions of Access and Opportunity Among Youth and Young Professionals.” The report highlights findings from an OSC-commissioned study gauging youth and young professional perceptions and attitudes towards careers in the ocean industry. 

The study builds on previous work by SES Workforce Research & Consulting, which looked at self-reported data from youth aged 11-15 from Canada’s maritime provinces. This new study, led by Dr. Sherry Scully, is the first national study of its kind focused on youth aged 18-35. 

The global ocean economy is set to outpace the growth of the broader economy by 20 per cent by 2030. Through Ambition 2035, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, together with the country’s ocean community, have set a five-times growth ambition within the context of this growth, which also represents a further increased demand for talent in ocean. 

The report aims to offer insight into how the ocean industry can better attract young, diverse talent, as well as experienced talent with transferrable skills, through gauging youth and young professional perceptions around ocean careers. This includes how perceptions have been shaped by awareness, proximity to the industry, ocean STEM education, and social narrative, and how these variables translate to attracting and discouraging new talent, pathways and barriers to entry, and opportunities for building awareness of ocean careers. The findings will also enable strategies for building the capacity, competency, and flexibility of the ocean workforce. 

The report notes that while perceptions of the ocean industry are generally positive, lack of awareness around the full scope of careers available in the ocean sector as well as the pathways to those opportunities is holding back individual interest in an ocean sector career. Further, that awareness is correlated with individual proximity to current ocean industry professionals, which is also a key factor in perceptions of the ocean industry. To that end, there is considerable opportunity to improve awareness and education in ocean sciences, and important considerations for industry when developing attraction and retention strategies given the key drivers identified for how youth and young workers make career choices. 

Other key findings include: 

  • There is a need to build awareness of transferrable skills among both employees and job seekers to attract the cross-disciplinary expertise the industry needs; 
  • Underrepresented workers reported greater interest in ocean-related careers and more optimism in accessing those careers; 
  • Responses demonstrate strong optimism that careers in the ocean industry can effectuate positive environmental change, and that it is not solely focused on harvesting natural resources; 
  • The declared highest-ranking drivers were found to be: providing financial security and stability, having a career that is personally interesting, and contributing to a sustainable future.  

Canada’s Ocean Supercluster has released the report publicly today to share insights and help inform the workforce development activity happening in ocean amongst members and partners across the country. Read the full report here

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Media Contacts  
Nancy Andrews  
Canada’s Ocean Supercluster  
nancy.andrews@oceansupercluster.ca  

About Canada’s Ocean Supercluster   

Canada’s Ocean Supercluster accelerates the development and commercialization of made-in-Canada ocean solutions in energy transition, food security, future of transport, and climate change while also growing more companies, creating more jobs, and attracting ocean talent. As Canada’s national ocean cluster, the OSC is a convenor of members, partners, and networks and a catalyst for transformative growth that helps build the robust ecosystem needed to help realize Ambition 2035 – a 5X growth potential in ocean in Canada by 2035. To date, the OSC has approved more than 100 projects which will deliver more than 220 new made-in-Canada ocean products, processes, and services to sell to the world. For more information visit oceansupercluster.ca 

Quotes 

“Canada’s ocean sector has a 5X growth potential that can help transform our economy, creating more good jobs, and positioning Canada as a leader in ocean innovation. We will not achieve that ambition without a well-skilled, diverse workforce that is engaged in a broad range of exciting jobs that are needed to support that innovation and growth. We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to partner with Dr. Sherry Scully on this work, recognizing it serves as the foundation we can build strategies and our activities around how to best create awareness, excitement, and pathways to careers in the ocean sector that will attract the talent we need while also removing barriers for under-represented groups who may have not otherwise considered a career in ocean.” – Kendra MacDonald, CEO, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster 

“This research is so important as we are competing for talent with every other industry, and we need to understand how we can catch the interest of good talent – how can we make the ocean industry stand out when young people are contemplating which career path to pursue? The timeline for building a talent pipeline is shortening, and it’s not just about building capacity. The ocean industry needs a workforce that is capable, reliable, stable, skilled, diverse, and adaptable. That’s not a small ask – but it is doable.  – Sherry Scully, Director of Workforce Development for The PIER at the Seaport