Biomass North and the Northern Ontario Bioeconomy Strategy.

• Position: SPONSORED CONTENT

A sustainable bioeconomy drives positive economic, social and environmental outcomes. Canada's traditional forest bioeconomy, based largely on pulp and paper production and building materials for the U.S. market, has been hard hit by technology and market changes, resulting in thousands of jobs lost and underutilized harvests and forestry residues. A robust bioeconomy will develop new supply chains and innovative products.

The Biomass North Development Centre (BNDC) advocates for municipalities, Northern First Nations, and organizations that support the development of a sustainable bioeconomy.

It does this by building strategic alliances between all members of the value chain, from small municipalities to large industry and all points in between. By performing cutting-edge market and technical research, through knowledge transfer and implementing best practices, and by driving innovation in new products and business models, Biomass North aspires to make Canada a global leader in the emerging bioeconomy.

Developed in partnership by the Union of Ontario Indians (political advocate for 39 First Nations in Ontario) and the former Biomass Innovation Centre, the Northern Ontario Bioeconomy Strategy is intended to leverage our Northern sustainable forestry resources to trigger economic development and job growth, push innovation and entrepreneurship, and develop new domestic markets and international partnerships. The strategy was created with extensive input from Northern Ontario municipalities, First Nations, provincial government, small and medium-sized enterprises, industry, academia, and various organizations.

Ontario has made considerable investment to develop key components of a thriving Northern bioeconomy. However, the lack of an overarching strategy has resulted in policy and regulatory barriers fragmented across several ministries. This, coupled with a lack of skilled workers, prevents the development of key projects in Ontario communities and First Nations jurisdictions.

In order to reduce these barriers, and to realize the potential economic and environmental benefits in the new bioeconomy, the Union of Ontario Indians and the former Biomass Innovation Centre partnered to develop a Northern Ontario Bioeconomy Strategy.

The Northern Ontario Bioeconomy Strategy is divided into four strategic pillars: sustainable supply; bioenergy and biofuels; biocomposites and biochemicals; and traditional medicines and foods.

The objective is to form...