Canada announces CAD $11 million in carbon tech funding
Canada has announced more than CAD $11 million in funding for carbon utilisation and storage technologies based in Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, as part of efforts to scale up energy innovation and support climate targets.
Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, outlined the investments in a keynote speech to experts from government, industry, research, and finance at the Energy Innovation Forum in Toronto.
The funding supports a group of projects focused on improving the safety and efficiency of subsurface CO2 storage and developing new carbon utilisation technologies that lower costs, energy use, and carbon intensity across vital industrial sectors. Locations benefiting from this funding include Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.
"By investing in made-in-Canada clean energy innovation, we're supporting homegrown innovation, creating good jobs, reducing pollution and keeping our economy competitive," said Hodgson. "This is about growing opportunities for Canadians and protecting our environment as we become an energy superpower and the strongest economy in the G7."
The Minister also introduced the Artificial Intelligence for Canadian Energy Innovation Call for Proposals. This initiative will provide financial support for research, development, and demonstration projects that utilise Canadian expertise in artificial intelligence to accelerate energy innovation and reduce costs.
Natural Resources Canada further announced a second edition of the SMART-CDR Student Prize Competition, to be run in December 2025 by the University of Toronto's Lawson Climate Institute. The competition is supported by a CAD $89,000 grant and is intended to encourage students worldwide to propose new solutions in carbon dioxide removal as part of Canada's leadership in the Mission Innovation Carbon Dioxide Removal Mission.
One of the receivers is Memorial University of Newfoundland, with close to CAD $5 million for a project evaluating carbon storage capacity in Atlantic Canada. This includes life-cycle analysis, creation of a social and stakeholder roadmap and public education.
In Quebec, the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique will deliver a geological storage pilot in the Lower Saint Lawrence Lowlands, which has been awarded nearly CAD $5 million. The project will create digital replicas of storage reservoirs, providing foundations for 3D seismic data, well tests and a numerical reservoir model.
The Geological Carbon Storage Atlas of Eastern Canada, led by Canadian Discovery, will receive CAD $960,000 to map the regional potential for CO2 storage in Quebec and Atlantic Canada, addressing the lack of regional resources. Focusing on saline aquifers and depleted hydrocarbon pools, the project's final report will be available to officials and the public.
Université Laval's project on the utilisation of carbon mineralisation for metal recovery and permanent storage will receive CAD $483,227 to advance techniques for absorbing CO2 while extracting critical metals.
In addition to the new funding, NorthX Climate Tech highlighted recent investments, announcing CAD $3.4 million in support for four Canadian carbon removal ventures. Arca Climate Technologies also confirmed an offtake agreement with Microsoft to deliver nearly 300,000 tonnes of durable carbon dioxide removal over 10 years, with support from previous federal investment.
