The OSC in 2025: Charting the Course to 2035

By: Kendra MacDonald, CEO, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster

As the holidays now seem like a distant memory, the New Year is off to a busy start with exciting new project proposals under development, the announcement of new projects underway, and planning in full swing for our bi-annual Ambition 2035 Summit where we look forward to convening Canada’s ocean network behind one of the most important opportunities of our time.  

2025 is an important year. It marks just 10 years to our collective 5X growth ambition for Canada’s ocean economy, in the backdrop of a global ocean economy on the rise – expected to outpace the broader economy by 2030. And as Canada charts the course for what is next, the ocean economy is an important driver in the potential for economic growth, new jobs, increased productivity and competitiveness, thriving communities, and accelerating the development of more, made-in-Canada ocean technology to sell to the world. With a membership of 800 from across Canada, as well as associate membership world-wide, the OSC is one of the world’s largest blue clusters. With momentum behind us, now is the time. 

To date we have more than $500 million in announced and approved projects with partners and collaborators from different ocean sectors across the country. This month we have announced more than $9 million new in projects at an event at The Pier in Halifax, including the Amphibian UWILD Project and the AI-Powered Vessel Automation Toolkit Project from Marine Thinking, worth a combined $4.7 million, and the Forecast AI Project from MarineLabs worth $4.5 million, with more planned project announcements coming up in Ottawa in February and in Vancouver in March. 

You will find us participating at a number of key events in Canada and in global markets that you have identified as priority. In the coming weeks, this includes a session on Arctic ocean innovation at the Aqsarniit Conference in Ottawa, a dedicated ocean track at the Canada-in-Asia conference in Singapore, partnering in the delivery of sessions at Ocean Visions in Vancouver, and participating in Hannover Messe in Germany as a part of Canada’s host country programming.  

Our major, bi-annual Ambition 2035 Summit event will focus on action towards our collective goal of growing Canada’s ocean economy to $220 billion by 2035 – with the outcomes of research, reporting, and planning by national steering committees in key areas of growth, insights from global experts, and a look at  emerging, new opportunities, as well as a challenge competition soon to be launched for both early and mature companies. Stay tuned! 

If you are not yet a member of the OSC – now’s the time to get involved. Reach out to membership@oceansupercluster.ca, or visit Membership – Canada’s Ocean Supercluster. We’re excited to connect with you! 

If you have a project idea – we continue to accept project proposals through our continuous intake, core program. Please reach out to get started!