Mobilizing Ocean Research for Canada

Summary

Canada is an ocean nation. It is home to the world’s longest coastline and borders three oceans. Ocean research, when done well, has countless impacts that reach far beyond academia. However, Canada’s ocean research strengths often fail to fully translate into benefits for the environment, the economy, and communities.

Recognizing this shortfall and building on the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA)’s past work in this area, the Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR) sponsored the CCA to convene experts to examine ways to improve the impacts of ocean research.

Mobilizing Ocean Research for Canada responds to questions about the key barriers to ocean research impact, the strategies best positioned to address them, and the emerging trends that could reshape both. It is a summary of workshop deliberations, supplemented by evidence from the literature, and input received through CCA–MEOPAR engagement activities.

Key findings

• Canada’s ocean research system produces high-quality science, but can struggle to translate research into environmental, societal, and economic benefits.   
• Successful research projects are designed and sustained based on a fulsome appreciation for Indigenous rights, knowledge systems, and leadership. Early and sustained engagement with Indigenous Peoples, communities, and end users is critical to achieving impact.  
• Knowledge mobilization is a major bottleneck in the research-to-impact pathway. Despite strong evidence generation, insufficient attention to and investment in communication, translation, and user-focused outputs reduce the uptake of research findings. Ensuring the right contextualized knowledge is available to policy-makers at the right time is a key challenge and opportunity. 
• Many of the key strategies that could enhance the impact of ocean research are beyond the reach of a single researcher or research project.  
• The effective use of ocean research is hindered by the lack of shared vision and weak connections among researchers, policymakers, and industry. Mounting interest in the Blue Economy could be an opportunity to articulate and advance such a vision. Dual-use R&D also offers a new way forward, with the potential to access new partnerships and resources, while highlighting the growing importance of ocean research in achieving several national priorities.