OTTAWA, October 29, 2025 — To commemorate the end of Circular Economy Month, Circular Economy Leadership Canada and Circular Innovation Council have released the Circular Economy (CE) Action Plan for Canada 2.0, a second iteration of the initial CE Action Plan released in October 2023. 

In 2025, as global competition, protectionist policies, and market uncertainties intensify all the while climate and waste impacts accelerate, the need for a unified national approach to circular economy is more critical than ever. The CE Action Plan for Canada is an essential framework designed to accelerate Canada’s transition from a linear “take-make-waste” economy to a regenerative, circular economic system. 

The CE Action Plan for Canada serves as a definitive tool to unite stakeholders—including the private sector, governments, academic and non-government organizations, investors and innovators, and broader civil society actors—around a common purpose. It provides a shared vision, identifies strategic priorities, and, most importantly, establishes “on-ramps” for coordinated action. 

The original CE Action Plan defined five critical enablers for advancing circularity in Canada: Information, Collaboration, Policy, Innovation, and Investment. It set out thirty priority actions with a short-term horizon, designed to be reviewed and refreshed every two years. 

Version 2.0 is not a pivot, but a magnification. It integrates crucial insights and evidence gathered since 2023, particularly from the Canadian Circular Economy Summit (CCES) 2025 held in Montréal in April 2025. By aligning diverse efforts, Canada can de-risk investments, scale up circular innovations faster, and ensure that our collective momentum is greater than the sum of our individual parts, transforming fragmented efforts into systemic change.

Since the launch of the 2023 CE Action Plan, Canada’s circular ecosystem has gained undeniable momentum. At the same time, the two years since CE Action Plan 1.0 was published have brought about significant shifts in the North American and global landscape, which version 2.0 must address.

The CCES 2025 featured sessions around ‘Tackling Canada’s Biggest Challenges’ and served as the engine for the updated CE Action Plan 2.0, bringing together nearly 1,000 delegates to focus on practical, actionable solutions. Over the three days of the conference, sixteen priority actions emerged as critical focus areas needed for addressing the challenges and opportunities for Canada:

Information

1. Launch Public Awareness and Engagement Campaign. Expand national campaigns using behavioral insights.  Focus on practical benefits: affordability, waste savings, and job creation. Segment by audience—business, consumers, governments, cultural groups—to drive participation. (Builds on CEAP 2023 Priority Action 1.1)
2. Create a National Circular Data Framework. Harmonize metrics, data, and measurement formats. Provide open dashboards that track progress by sector and region. (Builds on CEAP 2023 Priority Action 1.7)
3. Integrate Circularity into Climate Action Plans and Efforts. Embed circular metrics and strategies into government and private sector climate plans, and address issues related to GHG reporting that disincentivize circular strategies and practices such as reuse, repair, and designing for longevity. (NEW Priority Action for CEAP 2025)

Collaboration

1. Co-Design Circular Projects and Initiatives with Indigenous and Local Partners. Adopt circular principles for infrastructure projects that align with Indigenous knowledge systems and regional co-governance that allows for shared ownership and/or benefit clauses in publicly-funded projects. (Builds on CEAP 2023 Priority Action 2.4)
2. Scale Proven Models for Reuse, Repair, and Remanufacturing. Support greater adoption of Value Retention Processes (VRPs) (reuse, repair, remanufacturing) business models through pre-competitive collaboration and shared infrastructure. (Builds on CEAP 2023 Priority Action 3.2)

Innovation

1. Empower Entrepreneurs and SMEs. Provide funding, advisory support, and buyer-linked pilots through circular economy incubators and accelerators to de-risk circular innovation. (Builds on CEAP 2023 Priority Action 3.3)
2. Support Circular Testbeds & Innovation Hubs for Major Sectors. Use a ‘living lab’ approach in strategic sectors (including construction, agrifood, textiles, manufacturing, plastics, and critical metals / minerals) to validate and prove out scalable business models. (Builds on CEAP 2023 Priority Action 2.1 and 3.4)
3. Develop a Product Passport Roadmap. Roll out digital IDs across key sectors—construction, electronics, food packaging—starting with voluntary pilots, then integrating into standards of practice and procurement. (NEW Priority Action for CEAP 2025)
4. Use Digital Tools to Scale Circular Design. Apply and incentivize AI, robotics, blockchain, and other digital solutions to cut waste or track material flows, prioritizing open-source and/or interoperable systems and platforms. (NEW Priority Action for CEAP 2025) (NEW Priority Action for CEAP 2025)

Policy

1. Develop and Launch a National Circular Economy Roadmap. Establish federal level objectives, underpinned by sectoral roadmaps, that are aligned with global standards and best practices. (NEW Priority Action for CEAP 2025)
2. Enhance Supportive Policies for Reuse and Repair.  Redirect a share of EPR funds and fee modulation to support reuse and repair infrastructure, reform taxation on used goods, introduce durability ratings, and advance ‘right to repair’ legislation. (Builds on CEAP 2023 Priority Action 4.1)
3. Mandate Circular Procurement Across All Public Agencies.  Use procurement to drive low-carbon, reusable, and repairable products while building SME readiness. (NEW Priority Action for CEAP 2025)
4. Use Standards as Policy Accelerators. Embed standards into procurement and policy, and leverage ISO 59020 standards for circular economy measurement locally, provincially, and nationally. (Builds on CEAP 2023 Priority Action 4.7)

Investment

1. Launch a Circular Infrastructure Investment Plan. Identify critical infrastructure needs and gaps by sector and region, and develop incentives and funding models to operationalize the plan. (NEW Priority Action for CEAP 2025)
2. Expand Blended Finance to Support and De-risk Circular Projects and Infrastructure.  Combine public grants, private equity and debt, and community funding to support circular business models and infrastructure (reuse, repair, reprocessing, recycling).  (NEW Priority Action for CEAP 2025)
3. Mobilize Cities and Local Governments. Empower localized circular programs through planning tools and grant funding opportunities. (Builds on CEAP 2023 Priority Action 5.3)

In light of these developments, CE Action Plan 2.0 re-commits Canada to an economically competitive, inclusive, resilient, and climate-smart circular economy. It translates the energy of our progress and the urgency of our external environment into a refreshed, actionable blueprint for the next two years.