Canada has strong potential to capture and retain a leadership share of the evolving global resource market. Realizing that potential demands a collaborative effort between government and industry to position energy, mining and forestry to be competitive in the economy of the future. Doing so will help attract the investment and capital flows that Canada’s resource industries need to continue to advance and adapt. The Resources of the Future Economic Strategy Table has identified the following priority themes. Competitiveness, environmental performance, inclusiveness and safety are the underlying principles behind each theme:

1. Regulatory certainty
   Regulations need to maintain public confidence in Canada’s resource industries and provide longer-term predictability and certainty for investors. At the same time, they must support Canada’s participation in the global innovation race and must maintain Canadian industrial competitiveness as the world transitions to low carbon products. Achieving these goals requires, among other things, close coordination between the various levels of government, science-based decision-making and approaches that are outcomes-based rather than prescriptive.
2. Innovation for competitiveness
   Given the changing competitive, environmental and global economic realities of the resource sector, companies need to be “future-fit” with value propositions that will apply to tomorrow’s realities. Creating an agile, entrepreneurial culture of innovation and creating the right policy conditions for capital flow will enable the resources sector to be competitive. Innovation for competitiveness refers to innovation that delivers the highest return on investment at the highest efficiency with the lowest environmental and social risks. Creating the right policy conditions that give companies the space and resources to innovate with this mindset will unlock financial returns and environmental performance.
3. Access to markets
   The market for Canadian resources is global, and yet there exists limitations on our ability to reach these markets. Access to opportunity depends on a variety of factors — from strong trade agreements that leverage Canada’s global brand to east-west infrastructure that gives us access to tidewater in order to capture global market opportunities. As well, Canada’s resource industries need forward visibility into emerging markets so they can establish the right conditions for accessing those opportunities early on.
4. Indigenous people and communities
   Many Indigenous communities across Canada depend economically on natural resources. Canadian resource companies today are collectively the country’s largest employer of Indigenous people. A truly sustainable resources sector is one in which indigenous communities are engaged participants that benefit actively from resource development from jobs and business support services to active equity partners.
5. Attracting and re-skilling talent
   Talent is the foundation for cultural change enabling Canada to be a global competitive force in natural resource development, making Canadians proud of the success we create today and in the future. For the resources sector, in-demand skills going forward will include data analytics, engineering, technology-related skills and entrepreneurial thinking, where ‘skills’ refers to entry-level, trades, professionals and all levels of leadership, and must include the involvement of more women, youth, Indigenous people and other under-utilized segments of the population.