News Release
Economic growth, new technologies, and environmental sustainability are increasingly being shaped by innovation in materials. Around the world, advances are reshaping industries, creating new opportunities, and raising novel questions.
Conventional materials are reaching the limits of what they can achieve. Innovation in material design and development can overcome these constraints, enabling new and improved products and processes.
At the request of the National Research Council of Canada, the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) will undertake a new assessment of Canada’s advanced materials landscape. The assessment will provide decision-makers with an evidence base to better understand Canada’s position in this rapidly evolving and strategically important global field.
The assessment will address the following question:
Advanced materials are engineered or significantly enhanced to outperform conventional alternatives through improved structural, functional, or environmental properties. They could also support a lower-carbon, more circular future by reducing energy and resource use and enabling more efficient recovery, reuse, and recycling.
The potential for Canada is significant. Countries are investing to build domestic capabilities and compete in a rapidly growing global market. Canada can draw on its critical mineral advantage and research strengths to pursue emerging opportunities, fortify supply chains, and reduce reliance on foreign sources of strategically important resources. An expert panel will be appointed in the coming weeks, with the final report expected to be published in 2027.
*This project was supported by the Government of Canada, through the Strategic Science Fund.