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.
Ocean Week Canada starts Friday, kicking off a national summer celebration of ocean engagement and marine conservation.
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.
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“Canada’s oceans connect us all and are a vital part of our past, present, and future as Canadians. Restoring and regenerating them for future generations is a goal we can only achieve by working together. That’s why I am so proud the Government of Canada’s Oceans Management Contribution Program provided $2.3M over two years to support the Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition and its many organizations, networks, and communities that are working together to better understand and advance ocean literacy in Canada. With such exciting and meaningful initiatives on the agenda for the coming year, I look forward to joining forces to help educate millions of Canadians about the importance of valuing and protecting our oceans.”
The Honourable Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
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