Canada’s environment and natural resources face a data challenge—and a generational opportunity

Canada’s natural resource and biodiversity sectors are under pressure. Climate change is accelerating pressure on ecosystems. Biodiversity is declining in many areas. And other countries are developing more competitive natural resource sectors with cutting-edge technologies. Genomics, the science of deciphering and understanding an organism’s entire genetic information encoded in DNA and related molecules, can help. It’s full potential—for Canada’s forests, fisheries, freshwater systems, soils, minerals and oceans—remains untapped.

The problem? Canada generates valuable genomic data that can help build resilience and prosperity across natural resources sectors, but it is fragmented, inconsistent and hard to use. This limits our ability to manage ecosystems, monitor threats and unlock new value from our natural resources.

The opportunity? Genomics and AI can turn biological data into actionable insight. With the right infrastructure, Canada can lead in sustainable resource management, environmental innovation and biodiversity stewardship.

This report captures key insights from national consultations that are shaping Genome Canada’s next major initiative. It outlines the challenges we face, the solutions we need and what becomes possible if we get this right.