Building Canada’s Bioeconomy at Home: A Path to Resilience, Security, and Sovereignty in 2026
February 17, 2025
by Meaghan Seagrave, Executive Director, Bioindustrial Innovation Canada
As we look toward 2026, it’s clear that Canada is entering a defining moment for its economy. Around the world, supply chains are being reshaped, trade relationships are shifting, and countries are reassessing what it means to be competitive and resilient. For Canada, this moment brings real urgency but even more importantly, it brings opportunity.
We have a once-in-a-generation chance to build a globally competitive bioeconomy by using our own resources, strengthening domestic supply and value chains, and keeping more value onshore. In today’s environment, building at home isn’t just a strategic choice, it’s essential to economic resiliency across our industries and sectors.
Canada already has what it needs to succeed. We have world-class innovators, abundant renewable resources, strong institutions, and trusted relationships with global partners. The challenge in front of us is not a lack of potential, but the pace and scale at which we move to capture it.
The bioeconomy sits at the centre of this opportunity. By linking our forests, farms, fisheries, and factories, Canada can strengthen productivity, diversify supply chains, and build industries that are competitive globally while rooted domestically. Turning biomass into higher-value fuels, novel materials, low-carbon chemicals, and industrial inputs allows us to reduce exposure to global shocks while creating jobs and anchoring manufacturing here at home.
At Bioindustrial Innovation Canada, we work across the country to connect innovators, industry, investors, and governments. Our focus is on helping Canada lead in the industrial low-carbon economy by accelerating the commercialization of Canadian clean and bio-based technologies. Scaling these solutions takes focus, coordination, capital, and leadership but the momentum is already there.
Globally, the landscape is shifting in Canada’s favour. Trusted partners, particularly in Europe, are actively seeking reliable, low-carbon suppliers and deeper collaboration. Canada’s ability to produce sustainable industrial inputs domestically positions us as a partner of choice in a changing global economy. These relationships offer an opportunity to grow export markets while strengthening domestic manufacturing capacity.
There is also a growing connection between economic resilience and national security. As NATO countries increase defence spending, Canada has an opportunity to strengthen its own industrial base. Biobased materials, fuels, and advanced manufacturing inputs can support Canada’s defence needs for development of remote Arctic bases and domestically produced surveillance and logistics technology supply chains, while contributing to our overall defence readiness. A strong bioeconomy is not just an environmental asset; it’s a strategic one.
What makes this opportunity especially compelling is that it delivers immediate results. BIC’s model of identification, validation and scaling, is proven and fiscally responsible, leveraging private capital to create jobs, strengthen supply chains, and deliver strong returns on public investment. We see firsthand how policy ambition becomes real-world impact when innovation is supported through to commercialization.
Looking ahead to 2026, I’m optimistic about what Canada can achieve. Momentum is building around shared national priorities: strengthening our economy while improving competitiveness, resilience, security and sovereignty. With sustained collaboration across sectors and regions, the bioeconomy can play a central role in nation-building through lower-carbon industrial growth.
The path forward is clear. We must leverage our assets, strengthen and onshore value chains, and scale what is already working. Canada doesn’t need to invent a new future; we need to accelerate the one that’s already taking shape.
At BIC, we look forward to working with partners across the country through our BIOCan network and around the globe through our Horizon Europe STRONGBIONET collaboration to do exactly that. The opportunity is real, the foundation is strong, and the future of Canada’s bioeconomy is one we can build on together.
About Bioindustrial Innovation Canada (BIC)
BIC is a non-profit business accelerator based in Ontario, Canada, focused on promoting sustainable chemistry and the circular bioeconomy. Founded in 2008, BIC supports the development and commercialization of green technologies through strategic investments, technical support, and the creation of innovative industrial clusters across Canada. Since 2008, BIC has made over 30 strategic investments in early-stage green technology companies that have contributed to the reduction of over 1 million tons of CO₂, while also creating over 66,600 jobs. With BIC support, these companies have attracted over CAD 500 million in external investments, allowing them to grow and scale in Canada.