The sustainable growth of a blue economy doesn’t have to come at the cost of ocean health, say leaders from BlueSwell, a Boston-based incubator run by SeaAhead Inc. and the New England Aquarium.
BlueSwell has chosen a second cohort of startups supporting ocean health, tackling areas including plastics remediation, water sensor technology and sea urchin aquaculture.
“Humans are heavily reliant on the ocean for many reasons, and as global populations continue to grow, so too will the ‘blue economy,’ including in the U.S.,” says John Mandelman, vice president and chief scientist with the aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.
In 2018, the blue economy supported 2.3 million American jobs, contributing about $373 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product through activities from tourism and recreation to shipping, transportation, fishing, power generation, research, and goods and services. The value of global ocean economy is expected to double to $3 trillion over the next decade.
“This growth also places substantial stress on the world’s ocean—which is already facing unprecedented direct and indirect threats due to climate change—from increased industrial activities, such as fisheries, ship traffic and coastal development, to name a few …” Mandelman says.
“The responsible growth of the blue economy depends on the advent and/or scaling of technological advances small and large, with a strong commitment to conservation. The BlueSwell program focuses on incubating scalable technologies in a variety of domains, including those related to sustainable food from, and renewable energy in, the ocean.”
A look at Blue Meadow’s idea
Blue Meadow
The startups chosen in the latest group include Aristotle’s Lantern, with a goal of creating urchin ranching solutions for the restoration of kelp habitat and urchin fisheries in California and New England, and Blue Meadow, developing an autonomous monitoring robot that helps ocean farmers improve yields and monitor their sites remotely.
BlueSwell cohort II startups will receive $35,000 each, including Can I Recycle This? and Ithaca Clean Energy, along with Mabel Systems, Oceanic Labs, Organicin Scientific and USEFULL.
“Each startup has the ability to use the funds to support the needs of their company during the course of the program, including on expenses such as travel and product development,” says Alissa Peterson, cofounder and executive director of SeaAhead, a benefit corporation.
This year’s cohort started Oct. 5; the first half of the program focuses on helping the teams develop a clear value proposition, understanding their customers and the impact of their innovations. Each startup is matched with mentors and connected to potential customers and partners to gather feedback and industry input. A Demo Day takes place in March.
“Last year’s virtual Demo Day attracted nearly 400 participants, which demonstrates the large interest the community has in these types of innovations,” Peterson says.
“It is a broader mission of both SeaAhead and the New England Aquarium to engage a wide audience in taking a solution mindset when it comes to ocean sustainability.
“This engagement has the potential for future knock-on effects, including influencing the community to use their consumer spending in ways that are beneficial to the ocean, such as supporting local sustainable seafood and decreasing single-use plastics.”
The first cohort has reportedly raised more than $6 million since the program started in 2020. BlueSwell’s grants are made possible by partners including foundations, public sector organizations, companies and individuals.
OTTAWA – Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.5 per cent last month as hiring remained weak across the economy.
Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday said employment rose by a modest 15,000 jobs in October.
Business, building and support services saw the largest gain in employment.
Meanwhile, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing experienced the largest decline.
Many economists see weakness in the job market continuing in the short term, before the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts spark a rebound in economic growth next year.
Despite ongoing softness in the labour market, however, strong wage growth has raged on in Canada. Average hourly wages in October grew 4.9 per cent from a year ago, reaching $35.76.
Friday’s report also shed some light on the financial health of households.
According to the agency, 28.8 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older were living in a household that had difficulty meeting financial needs – like food and housing – in the previous four weeks.
That was down from 33.1 per cent in October 2023 and 35.5 per cent in October 2022, but still above the 20.4 per cent figure recorded in October 2020.
People living in a rented home were more likely to report difficulty meeting financial needs, with nearly four in 10 reporting that was the case.
That compares with just under a quarter of those living in an owned home by a household member.
Immigrants were also more likely to report facing financial strain last month, with about four out of 10 immigrants who landed in the last year doing so.
That compares with about three in 10 more established immigrants and one in four of people born in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says health-care spending in Canada is projected to reach a new high in 2024.
The annual report released Thursday says total health spending is expected to hit $372 billion, or $9,054 per Canadian.
CIHI’s national analysis predicts expenditures will rise by 5.7 per cent in 2024, compared to 4.5 per cent in 2023 and 1.7 per cent in 2022.
This year’s health spending is estimated to represent 12.4 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. Excluding two years of the pandemic, it would be the highest ratio in the country’s history.
While it’s not unusual for health expenditures to outpace economic growth, the report says this could be the case for the next several years due to Canada’s growing population and its aging demographic.
Canada’s per capita spending on health care in 2022 was among the highest in the world, but still less than countries such as the United States and Sweden.
The report notes that the Canadian dental and pharmacare plans could push health-care spending even further as more people who previously couldn’t afford these services start using them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
As Canadians wake up to news that Donald Trump will return to the White House, the president-elect’s protectionist stance is casting a spotlight on what effect his second term will have on Canada-U.S. economic ties.
Some Canadian business leaders have expressed worry over Trump’s promise to introduce a universal 10 per cent tariff on all American imports.
A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report released last month suggested those tariffs would shrink the Canadian economy, resulting in around $30 billion per year in economic costs.
More than 77 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S.
Canada’s manufacturing sector faces the biggest risk should Trump push forward on imposing broad tariffs, said Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president and CEO Dennis Darby. He said the sector is the “most trade-exposed” within Canada.
“It’s in the U.S.’s best interest, it’s in our best interest, but most importantly for consumers across North America, that we’re able to trade goods, materials, ingredients, as we have under the trade agreements,” Darby said in an interview.
“It’s a more complex or complicated outcome than it would have been with the Democrats, but we’ve had to deal with this before and we’re going to do our best to deal with it again.”
American economists have also warned Trump’s plan could cause inflation and possibly a recession, which could have ripple effects in Canada.
It’s consumers who will ultimately feel the burden of any inflationary effect caused by broad tariffs, said Darby.
“A tariff tends to raise costs, and it ultimately raises prices, so that’s something that we have to be prepared for,” he said.
“It could tilt production mandates. A tariff makes goods more expensive, but on the same token, it also will make inputs for the U.S. more expensive.”
A report last month by TD economist Marc Ercolao said research shows a full-scale implementation of Trump’s tariff plan could lead to a near-five per cent reduction in Canadian export volumes to the U.S. by early-2027, relative to current baseline forecasts.
Retaliation by Canada would also increase costs for domestic producers, and push import volumes lower in the process.
“Slowing import activity mitigates some of the negative net trade impact on total GDP enough to avoid a technical recession, but still produces a period of extended stagnation through 2025 and 2026,” Ercolao said.
Since the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into effect in 2020, trade between Canada and the U.S. has surged by 46 per cent, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
With that deal is up for review in 2026, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing said the Canadian government “must collaborate effectively with the Trump administration to preserve and strengthen our bilateral economic partnership.”
“With an impressive $3.6 billion in daily trade, Canada and the United States are each other’s closest international partners. The secure and efficient flow of goods and people across our border … remains essential for the economies of both countries,” she said in a statement.
“By resisting tariffs and trade barriers that will only raise prices and hurt consumers in both countries, Canada and the United States can strengthen resilient cross-border supply chains that enhance our shared economic security.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
