The world is changing and the most advanced economic players are forging cleaner, more innovative economies. This transformation toward a new, low-pollution economy built on clean innovation is picking up speed, and Canada must act fast to secure a prosperous future as the world’s leading economies reinvent themselves.

Thankfully, we’re starting to see examples of Canadian entrepreneurs across numerous sectors succeeding in doing just that. One of the epicentres of this clean growth is found throughout Quebec, as evidenced by the five regional companies and initiatives we profiled for our recent Ecopreneurs campaign.

It’s for this reason that the Smart Prosperity Leaders’ Initiative chose Montreal to hold the second of four free public panel discussions, hosted at schools across the country, to explore Succeeding in the Green Economy: Lessons learned from Canadian clean growth entrepreneurs. Our event partners were Polytechnique Montréal and l'Institut EDDEC.

A discussion panel, moderated by Cycle Capital Management’s Catherine Bérubé, featured insights from Youth Climate Lab executive director (and member of the Smart Prosperity Leaders' Initiative) Dominique Souris, Pyrowave co-founder and CEO Jocelyn Doucet, Econoler national director Geneviève Gauthier, Fondaction director of public affairs Julien Lampron and l’Institut EDDEC executive director Daniel Normandin.

The discussion explored pathways for students and young professionals to gain exposure to what jobs look like in the clean economy. It delved into the critical task of supporting innovators and clean innovation along the growth curve, and what we can learn from successful businesses and entrepreneurs that are already out there in Canada.

Event partners: