Industry profile: Carbon management

As Canada transitions to a net-zero emissions economy, carbon management presents major job opportunities in decarbonizing heavy industries, creating low-carbon products and fuels, and fostering innovation in emerging sectors. From hydrogen and clean fertilizer to low-carbon cement and steel, this sector is key to building a competitive, low-emissions economy.

Carbon management refers to a suite of technologies and approaches that capture, use, or store carbon dioxide (CO₂) from both industrial sources and the atmosphere to reduce net emissions. This includes engineering systems such as Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) technologies, as well as Carbon Dioxide Removal methods, which can be technological, nature-based or a hybrid of the two. CDR methods include Direct Air Capture, which pulls carbon dioxide directly from the air; using plants or organic material to capture carbon and then storing it safely (sometimes called bioenergy with carbon capture and storage); and speeding up natural processes that lock carbon into rocks and minerals (known as enhanced carbon mineralization). Nature-based carbon management may also include approaches to protect, restore or sustainably manage ecosystems to enhance their natural ability to remove and store carbon, e.g. afforestation (planting new forests on land that was not recently forested) and reforestation.

Current Actions

• Canada’s Carbon Management Strategy outlines a national vision to develop a world-class carbon management industry, providing a roadmap with milestones to 2050 to unlock greenhouse gas reduction and commercial opportunities. Canada’s Carbon Management Strategy focuses on technology-enabled and hybrid solutions.
• Budget 2021 committed $319 million over seven years into research, development, and demonstrations to advance the commercial viability of CCUS technologies.
• The CCUS Investment Tax Credit provides a tax credit to Canadian corporations that incur eligible expenditures across different industrial sectors. The tax credit is aimed at spurring investment and creating job opportunities. Budget 2025 extended the availability of the full credit rates by 5 years, so that the full rates apply to eligible expenditures incurred from the start of 2022 to the end of 2035.
• CanmetENERGY Ottawa's CCUS program (part of Natural Resources Canada) focuses on research and development. The current suite of projects seeks to reduce the cost and energy requirements of CCUS.
• The Low-carbon Fuel Procurement Program will purchase at least $10 million in carbon dioxide removal services by 2030 to enable the government to lower its emissions while supporting the development of these critical technologies and their markets so that they are available when needed most.
• A federal offset protocol for Direct Air Carbon Dioxide Capture and Geological Storage under Canada's Greenhouse Gas Offset Credit System is under development, with another protocol for Bioenergy Carbon Dioxide Capture and Geological Storage under consideration for future development.

• The Talent Acceleration and Career Training in Low-carbon Energy project, under the Sustainable Jobs Training Fund, will help address the growing need for skilled workers in Canada’s carbon management industry. Through partnerships with industry, training institutions, community organizations and subject matter experts, this project will accelerate the development of a skilled workforce by providing hybrid training through in-class, online and onsite field training, prioritizing support for equity-seeking groups.

  

  Text version

  Map of Canada showing a snapshot of Canada’s carbon management centres, pilot projects, operational commercial-scale projects, and globally recognized companies:

  Ten globally recognized Canadian companies are listed.

  • Carbon Engineering in British Columbia
  • Carbon Upcycling in Alberta
  • CERT Systems in Ontario
  • CarbonCure in Nova Scotia
  • Svante in British Columbia
  • CarbiCrete in Quebec
  • Ekona Power in British Columbia
  • Ionomr Innovations in British Columbia
  • Arca in British Columbia
  • Planetary Technologies in Nova Scotia

  Centres and pilot projects are listed by province.

  In British Columbia:

  • Carbon Engineering’s Innovation Centre and AIR TO FUELS™ Pilot
  • Project CO2MENT by Svante, Lafarge, and Total
  • Carbon Management Canada Carbon Capture and Conversion Institute
  • British Columbia Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy
  • Trail Operations CCUS Pilot by Teck, which is in development
  • Svante Centre of Excellence for Carbon Capture and Removal, which is under construction

  In Alberta:

  • Natural Resource Canada’s CanmetENERGY – Devon laboratory
  • Genesee Carbon Conversion Centre Capital Power, which is in development
  • Alberta Carbon Conversion Technology Centre by Capital Power, ENAMX, and InnoTech Alberta
  • Carbon Management Canada CaMI Field Research Station

  In Saskatchewan:

  • VeloxoTherm Carbon Dioxide Capture Demonstration by Cenovus and Svante
  • International Carbon Capture and Storage Knowledge Centre
  • Petroleum Technology Research Centre Aquistore Project
  • Shand Carbon Capture Test Facility
  • Cenovus Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage facility at Lloydminster Ethanol Plant
  • Clean Energy Technologies Research Institute

  In Ontario:

  • Natural Resource Canada’s CanmetENERGY – Ottawa laboratory
  • Natural Resource Canada’s CanmetMATERIALS – Hamilton laboratory
  • National Research Council Advanced Materials Research Facility

  In Quebec:

  • Saipem Canada Carbon Dioxide Capture Unit at pulp mill of Resolute Forest Products – St. Félicien
  • Carbon Negative Concrete Pilot Project by Carbicrete and Patio Drummond
  • Natural Resource Canada’s CanmetENERGY – Varennes laboratory
  • Énergie et Chimie Verte Carbon Capture and Utilization demonstration platform by Valorisation Carbone Québec

  There are also 5 operational commercial-scale projects:

  • Quest carbon dioxide capture at bitumen upgrader, an Athabasca Oil Sands Project joint venture by Canadian Natural Resources Limited, Chevron Canada, and Shell Canada as the operators, located in Alberta
  • Alberta Carbon Trunk Line, a CCUS hub by Wolf, Enhance, North West Redwater Partnership, and Nutrien, located in Alberta
  • Weyburn-Midale carbon dioxide injection, monitoring, enhanced oil recovery, and storage by Whitecap and Cardinal, located in Saskatchewan
  • Boundary Dam carbon dioxide capture at a coal-fired power station by SaskPower, located in Saskatchewan
  • Glacier Gas CCS, a modular carbon capture and storage project by Advantage Energy and Entropy, located in Alberta

Economic opportunity

• Investment opportunity: According to scenarios^{Footnote 1} developed by the International Energy Agency (IEA), over US$160 billion in CCUS investments alone will be needed globally by 2030. Moreover, according to the IEA’s latest World Energy Outlook, global warming is projected to surpass 1.5°C within the next decade. The IEA underscores the growing need for CDR, estimated at 2.1 gigatonnes by 2050, and potentially reaching 8 gigatonnes globally by 2100. This could create major opportunities for Canadian jobs, innovation and exports.
• Job generation: Carbon management projects are already generating thousands of direct and indirect jobs in engineering, construction, and operations.
• Rural economic development: Projects such as CO₂ storage and hydrogen production are often located in rural and resource-rich areas.
• Indigenous participation: Indigenous communities are playing a growing leadership role, with projects such as the Upper Nicola Band’s partnership in the Huron Clean Energy Electro Fuels Project and Enbridge’s 50/50 ownership model with Indigenous partners in the Wabamun Carbon Hub.
• Domestic expertise: Homegrown companies, such as Svante, CarbonCure, Carbon Upcycling, and Carbon Engineering, are exporting cutting-edge technologies globally.

Carbon management career examples:^{Footnote 2}

• Emissions analysis specialists
• Carbon market specialists
• Research and Development engineers/scientists
• Process engineers
• Project management specialists
• Transport and storage specialists
• Intermediate piping engineers
• Instrumentation technicians
• Heavy equipment operators
• Urban foresters

Anticipated workforce opportunities associated with CDR^{Footnote 3}

• 
  $143 billion
  in potential GDP growth

• 
  $2.5 billion
  in industrial demand for steel from direct air capture investment

• 
  $23 billion
  in industrial demand for construction from DAC investment

• 
  332,000
  potential jobs

Additional information and resources

Career resources

• Carbon Capture and Storage | Careers in Energy
• Day in the Life: Franki Race, Technical Operations Associate, Carbon Management Canada | Careers in Energy
• Worker Profile Carbon Upcycling
• Job Bank

Other resources

• Carbon management
• Capturing the opportunity: A Carbon Management Strategy for Canada
• Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) Investment Tax Credit (ITC)
• Carbon Removal Canada
• Low-carbon Fuel Procurement Program
• Carbon Removal Canada: Carbon Console