Annual Survey of Environmental Goods and Services, 2017
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Released: 2019-03-01
Canadian businesses sold $16.8 billion worth of environmental and clean technology goods in 2017, while sales of services accounted for $10.1 billion. If waste management services are included, the total revenue of environmental and clean technology services reached $17.9 billion.
These revenues represent activity in Canada's clean technology sector. The data were produced using the Survey of Environmental Goods and Services, which included several new categories of environmental and clean technology goods and services, compared with its 2015 precursor.
Environmental and clean technology goods
Newly measured in the 2017 survey were revenues from sales of energy efficiency technologies, accounting for more than one-third ($6.3 billion) of total sales of environmental and clean technology goods. Products in this category include high efficiency industrial, commercial and residential equipment. Manufacturers of transportation technologies (fuel efficient automotive and aerospace equipment) reported sales of $3.7 billion, or 22% of the total value of goods sold in Canada's clean technology sector in 2017. Precision agriculture technologies ($896 million; domestic sales only) and water management, recycling and drinking water treatment technologies ($127 million) rounded out the new technologies added in 2017.
Businesses selling products supporting the manufacture of bioenergy and biomaterials, including the sales of biofuels and bioproducts, reported sales of $1.6 billion in 2017.
Sales of equipment for renewable energy technologies, supplying (for example) wind, solar, and hydro power generation projects totalled almost $1.5 billion. In 2017, this sector included sales of selected nuclear and waste-to-energy generation technologies.
Revenue from the sale of non-hazardous waste management equipment has risen by almost 50% since 2015 to $914 million in 2017.
The sale of equipment and technology for spill-response and environmental remediation projects totalled $403 million in 2017, up by almost 12% from 2015.
Sales for smart grid and energy storage technologies increased 9% from 2015 to $357 million.
Environmental and clean technology services
Canadian businesses providing environmental and clean technology services had strong domestic sales in 2017. Site remediation and emergency environmental services (including radioactive waste decommissioning in 2017) generated $3.1 billion in revenue domestically.
New environmental and clean technology service categories in 2017 included clean energy services, which had sales of $1.9 billion within Canada. Companies in this category support the design, implementation and operation of clean energy projects. Also new in 2017 were water management and efficiency services ($433 million), precision agriculture services ($413 million), smart grid services ($88 million) and transportation services ($22 million).
Companies supplying energy-efficiency services, such as green building certification and energy efficiency consulting services, generated $1.3 billion in domestic sales in 2017. Since 2015, this category was expanded to include data analysis and modelling, process integration, and industrial design and related services.
Environmental consulting firms providing services such as environmental assessments and audits took in just over $1.7 billion, including both domestic and international contracts.
Private sector waste management service providers reported revenues of $7.8 billion, based on data from the Waste Management Industry Survey. Waste management services include activities such as collection of waste, recyclables and organics, and the operation of landfills, transfer facilities, and recycling and organic processing facilities.
Exports and employment in the environmental and clean technology sector
Canadian businesses exported almost $8 billion worth of environmental and clean technology goods and services in 2017, with about 75% going to the United States. The remainder was distributed among other international markets.
In 2017, environmental and clean technology jobs provided employment for almost 84,000 Canadians. The waste management industry employed close to 40,000 people in full- and part-time positions in 2017.
Note to readers
Clean technology
With the exception of Waste Management and Environmental Consulting services, these data are derived from the Survey of Environmental Goods and Services. Waste management services revenue and employment data are based on the Waste Management Industry Survey. Revenues from environmental consulting services are based on the 2017 Annual Survey of Service Industries: Consulting Services.
The 2017 Survey of Environmental Goods and Services provides a clearer picture than previous reference years of the clean technology sector in Canada, as a result of broadening the scope of its content and target industries. The more comprehensive estimates produced in 2017 build upon the 2015 cycle, and are part of a five-year plan to improve the data supporting and profiling Canada's cleantech sector.
Clean technologies are defined as follows:
- Any good or service designed with the primary purpose of contributing to remediating or preventing any type of environmental damage;
- Any good or service that is less polluting or more resource-efficient than equivalent normal products which furnish a similar utility. Their primary use, however, is not one of environmental protection.
The survey captures revenues from several areas of Canada's growing clean technology sector. A comprehensive measurement of clean technology sales in Canada's economy is available through Statistics Canada's Environmental and Clean Technology Products Economic Account, of which the Survey of Environmental Goods and Services is one of several components. The Environmental and Clean Technology Products Economic Account captures all economy-wide transactions in the clean technology sector, such as clean energy and scrap metals, while the Survey of Environmental Goods and Services produces data on a clearly specified subset of goods and services that are narrower in scope than those captured in the Environmental and Clean Technology Products Economic Account.
Several changes to the survey questions, sampling strategy and methodology were made in 2017. New content was added to capture the revenue from a broader suite of environmental and clean technology goods and services. In addition, the number of North American Industrial Classification System groups used to define Canada's clean technology sector was increased. The estimates produced in 2017 represent a much larger population—and therefore a more comprehensive representation of Canada's clean technology sector—than in 2015. For this reason, comparison of the 2017 estimates to earlier estimates of the Survey of Environmental Goods and Services should be made with caution. This is particularly the case with the new category-specific estimates.
Contact information
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