About

An annual challenge showcasing the best Canadian digital innovators from post-secondary institutions.

The Catalyst Challenge is based on real-world problems faced by Canadians from various industries and sectors. Throughout the 10 days, the challenge will empower students to identify and build solutions to real world problems.

Interested in making a difference in the community? Sign up for the CleanTech Coast-to-Coast Catalyst Challenge today! We will be in touch soon with more exciting details!

Apply by Thursday July 28, 2022 to be considered.

August 8-18, 2022

CleanTech Catalyst Challenge

Canada has committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. In order to reach this goal, every Canadian and person living in Canada must do their part to support the transition to a cleaner society. There are three main areas of focus when it comes to supporting this transition to a net-zero Canada — reduce, improve, and switch.

♻ Reduce

In order to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, our society as a whole needs to re-examine the ways we are currently consuming energy and explore changing our habits to adopt more sustainable consumption practices. In 2020 alone, Canada consumed 8,129 petajoules of energy. What if there were innovative solutions to decrease that number, even by 10%?

📈 Improve

The push towards zero-emissions is not necessarily about ditching old method, it is about finding new and innovative solutions to old problems using existing tools. Approximately 33% of Canada’s energy comes from non-renewable resources that continue to be a vital part of the Canadian economy (Canada Energy Regulator, 2022). What if we could find a way to make non-renewable energy sources cleaner and more sustainable, rather than dropping them altogether?

🌎 Switch

Canada relies on hydroelectric power for approximately 60% of its energy supply, while the remaining 40% comes from other renewable and non-renewable sources (Canada Energy Regulator, 2022). With modern advances in hydroelectric and nuclear power, could the best option be to switch from less-sustainable energy sources to greener options such as wind, solar, and nuclear?