210 of Canada’s Clean50 leaders urge all Canadians to reach out to governments: local, provincial and federal 

Award-winning leaders in fighting climate change, protecting the environment, and championing social inclusion, drawn from all sectors and segments of the Canadian economy, and our country have joined together to ask our governments for:

• A Clean Reset for a Healthy, Just, and Prosperous Canada
• Putting Health First
• Jobs for Lasting Prosperity
• Quality of Life

The open letter, refers to how our current crisis, the coronavirus is shaking the world, foreshadowed by the overwhelming shocks and strains that the climate crisis will bring during our lifetimes. Never before have we faced such a challenge. Families, communities, institutions and businesses are in urgent need, and governments are stepping forward to help, with a torrent of borrowed money.

Before the COVID crisis, Canada’s cleantech community was well positioned to pursue that $26 trillion opportunity, translating to millions of potential jobs in Canada. However, many of our world-leading clean technology companies are young businesses, with limited reserves, that have suffered significant losses in revenue and expected investments. They need help urgently. We ask governments to support these companies, by immediately:

• Expanding funding to BDC, SDTC, EDC, and Western Economic Diversification and regional economic development programs with a mandate to ensure the funds will get deployed
• Topping up existing cleantech venture funds to unlock the capital already invested
• Tasking and enabling the CRA to accelerate processing of SRED claims
• Unlocking private-sector investment as described by the Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance
• Incentivizing Canadian public and private sector organizations to improve their productivity by purchasing Canadian cleantech
• Enabling Canadians to invest their RRSPs into cleantech ventures and funds

In addition to struggling with the climate crisis, the biggest health, economic and environmental threat of the 21st century, we will collectively have to pay this money back for generations to come. The great news is that by working together, we can build a healthy, just and prosperous future for all, if we use today’s money well, and invest in a positive future that we can embrace together.

We commend the Federal Government for its commitment to resist calls for cutbacks on environmental regulations, and for investing in both IRAP and oil well clean-up and methane emission reductions – strategies that will help us get back to work and develop new skills while improving our environment. And there are many more win-win-win opportunities to invest in Canadians, the economy, and the environment.

We have a lot to gain from the sustainable economy of the future, beyond just a better economy. We urge all Canadians to join us, and support this message, by forwarding this letter (English version or French version) to each of their elected representatives via an email, a letter or by way of a telephone call.