CALGARY — Jorden Dye, director of the Pembina Institute’s CDR Centre, made the following statement in response to the Government of Canada officially launching a call for bids for federal departments to purchase at least C$10m of credits from Canadian carbon dioxide removal projects:
“This is a major boost to an important industry that we need to see scale up across Canada over the next decade and beyond. The United Nations IPCC projects that, over the next few decades, carbon dioxide removal will have an important role to play in helping the world achieve necessary emissions reductions and avoid the worst climate impacts. Demand for these technologies will only grow, and the economic benefits will therefore be concentrated in forward-thinking countries that have the foresight to get CDR industries up and running now. Today’s procurement launch shows the Government of Canada understands the value of being a first mover in this critical industry of the future.
“This public procurement of CDR credits is a shrewd investment by the Government of Canada, representing dollars well spent. We know from the example of the United States that this is a major market signal that the industry responds to, with public money then catalyzing significant private investment. Close to two billion US dollars of cumulative private investment was made in the U.S. CDR industry between 2021-2025, following government commitments to purchase credits and establish CDR hubs. In other words, there is a proven track record of public investment in CDR leading to technologies being developed and refined, and projects being built and scaled. Analysis shows that, in Canada, this could represent tens of thousands of jobs across the country.
“It is worth noting that Canada’s is now the only active government procurement program currently active, anywhere in the world. Canada is already home to international leaders in CDR, including companies such as Carbon Engineering and Savante, as well as the investment hub Deep Sky, based in Alberta. There are already projects up and running, removing carbon from the atmosphere – designed and built by Canadian engineers, many of whom have skills and expertise that were first honed in the oil and gas industry. CDR is one of the areas where Canada can build on our natural strengths, of geography, home-grown talent and deep expertise in geological formations to store carbon.”
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Key facts
- Today’s procurement launch follows the Government of Canada’s 2024 commitment to purchasing at least $10 million in CDR by 2030, an important demand signal for the industry.
- The global CDR market could be worth as much as $1.2 trillion USD by 2050 according to McKinsey & Company.
- U.S. public procurement of CDR through the Department of Energy’s Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchase Pilot Prize – which made up to USD 35 million available to buy CDR credits over three years – was designed to catalyze a market for high-quality CDR credits by providing early offtake agreements and standardized contracts that ease private capital fundraising. According to CDR.fyi, between 2021 and 2025, 53 U.S. companies secured USD 1.9 billion of private equity, across 67 deals.
- 89% of corporate Engaged Buyers in Canada plan to purchase CDR credits within the next five years, with 67% aiming to do so before the end of 2026, according to the Pembina Institute’s 2025 CDR buyer scan.
- Canada is already home to 78 CDR developer companies and 48 active and planned CDR projects, with investments from major players including Microsoft, Amazon and Shopify.
- The Advance Carbon Removal Coalition, launched March 5, 2026, aims to mobilize $100 million in new support for Canadian CDR by 2030. Founding members include the Government of Canada, RBC, BMO and Shopify, which have collectively contributed over $75 million to the Canadian CDR ecosystem to date.
- The CDR industry is a potential economic powerhouse that could create 95,000 to 130,000 jobs per year if we removed the equivalent of just 15 per cent of Canada’s annual emissions, according to a Rhodium Group report.
Background
Report: Growing Curiosity: 2025 scan of carbon dioxide removal buyers in Canada
Media release: CDR Centre celebrates a landmark week for Canadian carbon removal
Contact
Alex Burton
Director, Communications
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