COMMUNICATIONS

June 1, 2022 

Victoria, BC — This Friday, the Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition (COLC), together with 15 national content partners and over 75 event partners, are kicking off Ocean Week Canada 2022 (June 3-12). This national celebration of ocean events, learning, and engagement will be held annually during the week of World Ocean Day (June 8) throughout the United Nations Ocean Decade (2021-2030). Unique to 2022, Ocean Week Canada will continue with events and activities throughout the summer as Canada gears up to host the global community at the Fifth International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) in Vancouver in February 2023.   

Ocean Week Canada 2022 and the summer-long ‘Ocean Festival’ will be an exciting way for all Canadians to engage with the ocean. Through both in-person and virtual events, this national celebration includes art installations, film screenings, cultural programming, educational workshops, presentations and panels, community science activities, and many other types of events taking place in communities across the country. For the full events program, visit www.oceanweekcan.ca.

Along with a national program of events, several premier resources have been curated for Ocean Week Canada 2022, including, for example:

• A travelling Canadian Geographic ocean-themed giant floor map with Ocean School’s augmented reality experiences
• Video collections on coastal communities and Indigenous Water Guardians created by the Students on Ice Foundation and Indigenous Leadership Initiative
• Toolkits for people who influence the way we think about our relationship to the ocean and local waterways, such as teachers, museum and community educators, young ocean professionals and innovators

By participating in Ocean Week Canada and the Ocean Festival activities, people in Canada will learn about the importance of the ocean and sustainable interactions with it. This national program of events will strengthen Canadians’ connections to their local watersheds which connect them to Canada’s coastline—the longest of any country in the world—and inspire community-based action to ensure a healthy ocean for future generations. Indigenous-led, community, government, and private sector conservation success stories will be celebrated, building momentum towards reaching Canada’s conservation targets of protecting 25% of Canada’s ocean space by 2025 and 30% by 2030. 

Ocean Week Canada is nationally coordinated by the Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition (COLC) project office. This year’s celebration brings together 15 diverse organizations/ institutions from across Canada as national content partners, including the IMPAC5 Secretariat, Canadian Geographic; Canadian Museum of Nature; Ingenium, Indigenous Leadership Initiative; Students on Ice Foundation; Ocean School (a collaboration of the National Film Board of Canada and Dalhousie University); Parks Canada, Water Rangers; Ocean Networks Canada; Canadian Network for Ocean Education; Hakai Institute; Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOP) Canada; Entremission; and Emdash. Ocean Week Canada and the Ocean Festival also bring together over 75 event partners from across the country. 

This national collaboration and celebration is made possible through a contribution of $2.3 million from Fisheries and Oceans Canada over two years (2021-2023) through the Oceans Management Contribution Program. 

To learn more about Ocean Week Canada and the Ocean Festival, visit www.oceanweekcan.ca

Quotes 

“Our connections with land, freshwater, coastal areas, sea ice, and the open ocean are deeply shaped by our diverse experiences. When we share, strengthen, and celebrate our relationship with the ocean and local waterways, and come together to conserve and protect what we care about, we ensure a healthy ocean for future generations. This is the core mission of our national collaboration.”
Dr. Diz Glithero, National Lead, Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition 

“At the 5th International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) in Vancouver, Canada, the world’s foremost ocean conservation leaders and professionals will meet to chart a course towards protecting 30% of the global ocean by 2030. For Canadians, Ocean Week Canada and the Ocean Festival will create a wave of excitement as we celebrate our universal connection to the ocean and learn more about how it sustains us. The Ocean Festival will inspire us to support Canada’s efforts to protect precious marine ecosystems—from the unique glass sponge reefs in British Columbia to the globally important narwhal habitat in Nunavut.”
Sabine Jessen, Executive Director, IMPAC5 Secretariat 

“In 2022, Ocean Week Canada and the Ocean Festival will provide unprecedented opportunities for Canadians to appreciate the critical role that our ocean plays in the health of the planet and the protections necessary to ensure a sustainable ocean future for all. As we launch into the UN Ocean Decade, Ocean Networks Canada, an initiative of the University of Victoria, will contribute to the project through the creation of toolkits and planning of local and national events together with our partners from coast-to-coast-to-coast.”
Dr. Kate Moran, President, Ocean Networks Canada 

“Canadian Geographic is pleased to bring innovative educational and engagement tools to this important collaboration to make Canada’s enormous ocean better known to Canadians and the world.”
John Geiger, CM, CEO, Canadian Geographic 

“Our research and national collections provide critical evidence of changes to Canada’s marine biodiversity over time. We want to ensure this knowledge, as well as our public-engagement expertise, supports the festival and the COLC in inspiring Canadians to care about the importance of a healthy ocean to the health of the planet.”
Meg Beckel, President and CEO, Canadian Museum of Nature

“The Indigenous Leadership Initiative is a proud partner in this national collaboration and the special attention paid to featuring and learning from Indigenous-led ocean and water conservation and stewardship by Indigenous Guardians.”
Valerie Courtois, Director, Indigenous Leadership Initiative 

“Ingenium is proud to collaborate with so many amazing partners to tell the Canadian story of how innovation and technology contributes to our better understanding and appreciation of our oceans. Supporting the critical work advancing ocean literacy in Canada through this new education and conservation celebration is an exciting way to support our mission.”
Lisa Leblanc, Director General of the Canada Science and Technology Museum, one of three national museums under the Ingenium brand

“The Students on Ice Foundation is delighted to contribute to this important and timely national project, a curated video collection of coastal community stories as shared by community members on themes of culture, livelihoods, and marine conservation.”
Geoff Green, President, Students on Ice Foundation 

“Many of us who don’t live near the ocean don’t realize how we’re connected to it. Water Rangers is excited to support this project and celebration, encouraging all of us to learn about and get involved in ocean protection!”
Kat Kavanagh, Executive Director, Water Rangers 

“The ocean connects us all, touches us all, brings us all together. As a proud founding member of the Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition, the Ocean School team looks forward to contributing to this special celebration of our ocean connections. Let’s create a wave of excitement for our ocean nation.”
Boris Worm, Scientific Director of Ocean School

“The vision of ECOP Canada is to elevate and strengthen the diverse perspectives of new generations of ocean professionals in a collective voice, ensuring that knowledge is transferred between experienced and early-career ocean professionals. The Ocean Festival is an amazing opportunity for ECOPs across the country to be meaningfully engaged in the Canadian Ocean landscape.”
Neha Acharya-Patel, Co-Chair, Early Career Ocean Professionals Canada 

“The Tula Foundation’s Decade Regional Collaborative Center and Hakai team are excited to be a part of this coalition to get more Canadians engaged with the oceans that support and surround us.”
Hakai Institute and Decade Collaborative Center for the Northeast Pacific Ocean 

“The Canadian Network for Ocean Education (CaNOE) is thrilled to participate in this collaboration and help to deliver these ocean learning opportunities across Canada to spark greater awareness and advance ocean literacy.”
Audrie-Jo McConkey, Co-Chair, Canadian Network for Ocean Education 

Quick Facts 

• The Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition (COLC) is an alliance of organizations, networks, institutions, communities, and individuals working together to better understand and advance ocean literacy in Canada. COLC operates as an independent national project office with an administrative home at Ocean Networks Canada. COLC led the national study, Understanding Ocean Literacy in Canada (2019-2020), providing the first baseline of ocean literacy in Canada. COLC launched Land, Water, Ocean, Us: A Canadian Ocean Literacy Strategy on March 16, 2021, a co-developed National Strategy in which over 3,000 Canadians and 400 organizations participated.
• The world’s top ocean conservation leaders and professionals will meet at the Fifth International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) in Vancouver, Canada from February 3 to 9, 2023 to chart a course towards protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030. IMPAC5 is an opportunity for the global community of marine conservation leaders, managers, and practitioners to exchange knowledge, experience, and best practices to strengthen the conservation of marine biodiversity and protect the natural and cultural heritage of the ocean.
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada is investing $2.3 million over two years (2021-2023) in the Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition and its team of national partners to advance engagement with Canadians and awareness of Canada’s oceans and marine conservation through education and outreach. This funding through the Oceans Management Contribution Program will help support national-scale events such as the annual Ocean Week Canada celebrations and other ocean-related activities.