Canada: a safe haven for carbon removal innovation in an uncertain world

The day after Mark Carney's election victory, I find myself reflecting on a sentence about carbon removal in the now re-elected Liberal party platform. Just a few years back, seeing carbon removal featured in a major G7 party's election platform would have seemed like wishful thinking. But here it was - and not just some vague promise to "explore" carbon removal options. In that sentence, the governing party made a clear, bold commitment to establish Canada as "a global leader in carbon removal and sequestration" and turn our country into a hub for carbon removal technology development.

I helped start Carbon Removal Canada because I believe this is precisely the leadership role that Canada is uniquely positioned to fill. This mission has become even more critical as we witness policy support for climate and carbon removal stalling in the United States. We've seen the EU and other jurisdictions make impressive strides to advance carbon removal, but what Canada offers is a solution to scaling carbon removal in one place. We have an "all of the above" carbon removal advantage. Here, companies working on every kind of carbon removal solution can find the complete package: robust policy supports (like Canada’s world-leading procurement program and generous tax credits), abundant natural resources, sophisticated supply chains, established carbon storage infrastructure, and deep technical expertise—all within one coherent jurisdiction.

The now re-elected government made an unprecedented commitment to advancing carbon removal innovation in their platform. This isn't just about support for carbon removal, it's about establishing Canada as a world-leading hub for innovation in this critical field. So let’s get to the rest of the platform announcement, which we at Carbon Removal Canada helped inform:

• Extending the full value of the Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage Investment Tax Credit (CCUS ITC) to 2035

• Supporting a diverse range of technologies and innovation in carbon removal

• Accelerating offset protocol development across various carbon removal approaches

• Establishing separate carbon removal targets for Canada for 2035 and 2040

These commitments, while not addressing the entire need, signal Canada's intention to lead in a space where leadership is increasingly scarce. This intention was surfaced by numerous speakers at Carbon Removal Day in Ottawa two months ago, where we hosted over 200 attendees from around the world: Canada must step up and fill the leadership void in carbon removal as the U.S. steps back. This isn't opportunistic—it's necessary. The global imperative to scale carbon removal solutions requires stable policy environments where innovation can flourish and projects can scale.

So, what makes Canada uniquely positioned for this leadership role?

Canada offers a rare combination of natural resources, scientific expertise, and climate commitment. Our vast geography provides diverse testing grounds for every type of carbon removal solution imaginable: from direct air capture facilities in Alberta to enhanced rock weathering projects in Southern Ontario, innovative biomass approaches across our vast forestlands and ocean alkalinity enhancement along our extensive coastlines.

Our skilled workforce, with deep expertise in resource management, engineering, and environmental sciences, provides the human capital necessary to drive these innovations forward.

The carbon removal landscape in Canada is already taking shape. Carbon Removal Canada has mapped over 90 companies actively involved in the carbon removal supply chain across the country. These range from early-stage startups to established industry players pivoting toward climate solutions.

The international interest is tangible. I regularly speak with companies considering relocating or expanding their operations to Canada. And government interest in welcoming carbon removal innovations and investment alongside homegrown projects, across all departments and every province we've spoken to, is remarkably encouraging.

Canada offers something increasingly hard to find: a stable, supportive policy environment for carbon removal innovation. The interest from federal and provincial governments creates an opportunity to advance effective policies and learn what truly moves the needle to scale carbon removal. At Carbon Removal Canada, we're actively advancing a robust policy agenda that:

• Creates a powerful market signal - we’ve advocated for one of the world’s first carbon removal procurement programs, integration of carbon removal in compliance markets, and creating long-term signals of support by incorporating carbon removal explicitly in climate plans

• Accelerates technology supply - we’ve pressed for the expansion of tax credits and carbon removal specific innovation grants

• Enables responsible deployment - we’ve promoted government-endorsed standards and protocols for high-integrity carbon removal and best practices for community engagement

All of these policies provide robust support for scaling carbon removal. You can read more about our policy research and recommendations in our reports here.

The progress Canada has made, the commitments we've secured through collaboration with the government, and the opportunities to expand on these gains with the new mandate all point to a promising future despite setbacks in policy support elsewhere. Canada isn't just positioned to be a leader in carbon removal, it's emerging as a safe haven where this critical climate solution can continue to advance during uncertain times elsewhere.

Scaling carbon removal is fundamentally a global imperative. We need continued innovation, market, and policy development that can adapt to political headwinds in any single country. What Canada offers now is a stable, supportive environment where the carbon removal field can grow and mature, developing the technologies, business models, and governance frameworks that will ultimately catalyze and maintain the momentum needed to reach gigatonne scale.

In an uncertain world, Canada is charting a steady course toward carbon removal leadership. And that's good news not just for Canada, but for our shared global imperative to scale carbon removal.

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Na’im Merchant is the co-founder and Executive Director of Carbon Removal Canada, a policy initiative focused on scaling carbon removal in Canada. He was a policy fellow with Elemental Impact. He previously ran carbon removal consulting practice Carbon Curve, and publishes The Carbon Curve newsletter and podcast. This post represents his personal views and not those of Carbon Removal Canada. You can get in touch with him on LinkedIn.