Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, Minister. Thank you for joining our committee today.
There are so many important measures in the announcement from today in “A healthy environment and a healthy economy” that I would like to look at in more detail in this committee.
Today, the matter at hand is the supplementary estimates and the important work that's being done to support our natural resources sector, as well as the work we're doing to support the economy that we're moving towards.
With that in mind, clean technology is an emerging sector and an area of opportunity for Canada. It's estimated that it is a $2.6-trillion economic sector globally, right now. Of course, it features very prominently in our announcement from today, as it should.
We need more firms that are active in clean technology to ensure that we have a wealth of technologies that will help us reach our net-zero targets. I know, because I have many in my riding. They are global leaders in direct air capture, carbon engineering and in green building technology, like Nexii Building Solutions. They have very innovative tools to get us there.
I see in the main estimates that we have set aside nearly $50 million for clean technology challenges. What are these challenges? What potential comes out of funding challenges like these?