Canadian chemistry
the building block of innovation
Industry Partners
About Chemical
Canada’s chemistry sector transforms raw materials into the building blocks needed to manufacture approximately 70,000 products, from wind turbines and solar panels to vehicles and electronics. Chemistry is vital to the Canadian economy, ensuring a safe, high quality of life for all Canadians while creating some of the lowest greenhouse gas-intensive products on the planet.
Canada’s chemistry industry is highly innovative and recognized globally as best in class for its energy efficiency and carbon emissions intensity. Members of the Canadian chemistry industry have reduced the global-warming potential of their operations by two-thirds since 1992 and continually recognise the opportunity to do more.
Statistics
- Globally, chemistry is a $6.3 trillion (CAD) industry, with annual growth rates nearly double global GDP growth in each of the past 10 years
- Canada's chemistry industry is a $58 billion (CAD) industry and operates in every Canadian province
- More than 95 per cent of all manufactured products rely on chemistry
- The demand for chemicals is expected to triple over the next 20 years
Innovation
Efficiency has always been a core value for Canada’s chemistry sector leading to major financing of innovative technologies. This includes investing over $1 billion (CAD) to evolve the chemistry industry from crude-based feedstocks to natural-gas-based feedstocks to recently scaling a biomass based succinic acid production facility to commercial scale.
The chemistry industry is particularly drawn to innovating how best to conserve and reuse resources. It is always seeking opportunities to turn waste into raw materials and focusing on products that do more with less. Companies commit to continuously improving their manufacturing processes through Responsible Care®, the chemistry industry’s long-standing commitment to sustainability. Canadian chemistry has a demonstrable track record of conserving resources and reducing emissions and waste while making their facilities more efficient and sustainable.
Environmental & Social Governance (ESG)
The Canadian chemistry industry sees itself as a catalyst, uniquely positioned in the value chain between raw natural resources and downstream manufacturing industries who provide goods to consumers. Canada’s chemistry industry is highly innovative and recognized globally as the best in its class in energy efficiency and carbon emissions intensity. The industry reports – using 2005 as a base – that as of 2020 it has, among other achievements: reduced GHG emissions by 13 percent and sulphur dioxide emissions by 71 per cent, brought down total recordable incident rate by 55 per cent, and prepared emergency plans to ensure communities are prepared to respond to any chemical-related incident.