Study On Development Of The Canadian Environmental Industry

Involving many fields, regions and economic sectors, the environmental industry is a rising and comprehensive one. As a newly-growing economic player, this industry is gaining increasing attention around the world. The environmental industry in Canada has entered into the later stages of global and sustainable development. In most developing countries, however, this industry is just taking its first few steps.In protecting the environment of Canada, much importance has been attached to the development of the environmental industry on the corporate, governmental, and even social levels. In the 1970s, environmental issues began to arouse increasing attention in this country, incurring much commentary on environmental protection and stimulating demand for environmental products and services. This, of course, provided a great opportunity for development of the environmental industry into one both complex and highly-reformed. The environmental industry has not only made vital contributions to the improved environment of each industrial sector within the Canada's national economy, it has also given encouragement to those sectors to comply with all criteria and regulations so as to improve their efficiency.The development strategy of the environmental industry has spurred its growth in Canada. As the Chinese environmental industry is still in the beginning stages, study and research of its Canadian counterpart can be very helpful. This article consists of five parts:Part 1: an overview of the worldwide environmental industryPart 2: an introduction of the development of the Canadian environmental industry and its featuresPart 3: an analysis of the Canadian environmental industry in such aspects as its administration, policies and development strategy respectivelyPart 4: inspiration and reference for the Chinese environmental industry to enhance tis own growth by the study of successful policy and management experiences in Canada.Part 5: reflection on cooperation between China and Canada in this crucial industry.Part 1 gives a definition of the environmental industry and describes its methods of measurement, basic reasoning and development features. The environmental industry is a term which refers to the activities in the national economic structure, namely technical product development, business circulation, resource utilization, information service and project contracting, etc. undertaken with a view to combatting environmental pollution, improving the ecology and protecting natural resources. Measurement in the environmental industry serves to indicate its business features such as structure, production and distribution, by means of numerical values, where the most basic measurement is the production value of this industry. The development of the industry has been mainly driven by public demand, which is actually represented by the government. The development of the environmental industry includes such features as the number of persons employed and the production value of this industry as well as its position in the national economic system, its scale and quality of the workers, its growth rate and the situation of its technical progress. The environmental industry in most OECD countries has been served mostly by small-sized enterprises. In terms of employees'quality, there are a number of professionals and skilled workers in the industry, whose education is higher on average than that in other economic sectors; furthermore, within the environmental industry, the consulting business is a bigger player than firms which actually make environmental products.Part 2 first describes the development and features of the Canadian environmental industry and then analyzes the present situation there. According to the definition in its 1997 statement of environmental industrial investigations, the Ministry of Industry and the Statistics Bureau of Canada stated that the environmental industry mainly refers to all full-time or part-time enterprises producing environmental products, providing environmental services and undertaking construction relative to the environment in Canada. The development of the industry there obviously reflects regional features. Most major clients originate from the government; medium-and small-sized enterprises are the mainstay of the environmental industry, which is also characterized by such features as large-scale rapid development, technical innovation , green products and the popularization of clean production.Part 3 analyzes respectively the administration, policies and development strategies of the Canadian environmental industry. The most noticeable feature of the administration of the Canadian environmental industry is the rational division between the federal government and that of each province. According to the Canadian constitution, a province is the owner of the natural resources found within its boundaries; therefore, a province has the right to make laws governing the use and management of the land which is in possession of the federal government or under its fiduciary liability. Division of powers between the federal and the provincial governments was laid down in the first constitution of Canadain 1867. Environmental policy in Canada is characterized byfostering and protection. From the end of the 1960s to the beginning of the 1970s, both the federal and provincial governments had some plans to help the municipal governments, industry and public sectors raise funds for the construction of pollution control facilities. Early in the 1970s, a plan was formulated in most provinces to provide financial support to municipal governments to help them develop pollution controls. Finally, let us look at the development strategy which has led to its fast growth. This strategy emphasizes the requirement for close cooperation between individuals and organizations as well as between industry and government so as to establish a model for all nations. Success has come earliest in this industry.Part 4 introduces the basic experiences of the development of the Canadian environmental industry. First and foremost is the experience and guidance gained from multi-faceted macro-environmental management of Canadian resources.1. Pay attention to legislation and law enforcement on resources and the environment 2. Reinforce policy direction3. Give vital play to the market mechanism4. Organize and implement different kinds of voluntary action plans and establish cooperation and/or partnership between the government and industry5. Strengthen subsidies for the demonstration of technical progress according to the key points of different periods. The most important is governmental support and insistence on the implementation of a sustainable strategy of development by requesting each department to formulate all relevant laws, rules and regulations and provide supervision and implementation according to the law; the Ministry of Industry helps enterprises formulate and fulfill plans, provides them with the relevant technical information and helps them not only meet the environmental requirements but also enhance their benefits; the financial sector formulates the corresponding policy of economic motivation; the educational sector opens foundational education and training for pollution prevention and encourages the public to be involved so as to improve their awareness of environmental protection. Next, we will look into the experiences of these environmental polices in Canada. Mostly, the development of the Canadian environmental industry owes a lot to the policies formulated by its government, which pushed forward the development of the industry by doing the following: It actively advanced the strategy of sustainable development so as to create favorable macro conditions for the environmental industry; in enacted strict laws of environmental protection expediting the development of the environmental industry; it formulated rational industrial policies so as to enhance the development of the industry; finally, its application of multi-economics is meant to create favorable developmental conditions for the industry.In Part 5, we reflect on the enhancement of cooperation between China and Canada in this critical industry. In the course of Chinese modernization, we have encountered and will continue to encounter such factors as population increase, economic development and environmental protection. High-speed development of industrialization and urbanization also calls for formation of a strategy of harmonious and sustainable development between humans and nature. It has been increasingly realized that one of the marks of modernization is a healthy environment and a good qualityo of life. The experience of the development and administration of this industry in Canada (a country bigger than China in area), is worth our reference. The environmental industry shall be expanded in scale, improved in quality and upgraded in technology by such means as laws, rules, systems and regulations. We Chinese shall enhance the development of this industry by unleashing our own capacity in the development of technology, encouraging and leading large-sized enterprises to engage in making environmental products as well as seeking and creating trading advantages which the environmental industry will provide.