Portsmouth 07 April 2025 – In a fast-paced changing world, the South Coast’s dynamic maritime sector has hosted a large delegation of Canadian business leaders as part of a growing collaboration between Maritime UK Solent, Portsmouth City Council, Canada’s Ocean Technology Council of Nova Scotia (OTCNS) and Halifax Partnership.
Stu Baker, Managing Director of Maritime UK Solent, said: “Our collaborations with OCTNS and Halifax Partnership are a foundation for our strengthening collaborations with Canada. There are so many synergies across our great maritime regions; and I’m delighted to welcome a delegation to the Solent to enhance our business connections. Indeed, in March we were delighted to see so many Canadian friends join us at our Solent Coastal Powerhouse Summit, including speakers from the High Commission of Canada and economic leaders from Canadian provinces.”
The event at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, brought together over 70 Solent-based and Canadian businesses to deepen connections and explore new collaborative opportunities, sharing maritime business opportunities, and ensuring companies from both regions are connected to drive economic growth on the international stage.
Portsmouth and Halifax, Nova Scotia formalized a “sister city” economic partnership agreement in 2023 to develop and strengthen business and trade ties between the two regions.
Building on this commitment to economic development and collaboration, Mayor Andy Fillmore, Mayor of Halifax, Nova Scotia said: “Halifax and Portsmouth are working to build a deep economic partnership between our two regions by creating direct connections and mutual introductions for companies to sell goods and services to each other and to explore opportunities for future collaboration and joint ventures. Halifax’s economic development organization, Halifax Partnership, and their counterparts the Portsmouth Planning and Economic Growth, along with their partners at The Ocean Technology Council of Nova Scotia, and the Maritime UK Solent have established a trusted pathway for our respective business to explore these business opportunities.”
By forging deeper ties, businesses from both regions will benefit from knowledge sharing, joint ventures, and market expansion opportunities. The long-term vision is to create sustainable, high-value relationships that will drive innovation and economic growth.
Leann Collins from the Association of British Columbia Marine Industries (ABCMI) said: “British Columbia has almost 26,000 kilometres of coastline and is home to the largest and busiest port in Canada, so, like the Solent, maritime is very important and we have a lot of commonalities – our companies, Canadian and those in the UK, are facing the same challenges, like work force issues, decarbonisation, and supply chain resiliency. There are a lot of very smart people in both areas working on solutions, so it’s valuable for us to come here and explore potential opportunities to collaborate and really build solutions jointly that might be able to help both our areas – that’s why it’s important to be here and get a deeper understanding of what we might be able to achieve together.”
Professor David Hutchinson PhD FRSA FRGS, Professor of Global Environmental Solutions at the University of Portsmouth said: “I was delighted to join the maritime business event in Portsmouth to welcome our Canadian partners. Strengthening international collaboration is key to driving innovation and sustainability in the maritime sector, and events like this help us build the relationships and shared ambition needed to shape a cleaner, greener future together.”
Following a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Canada’s Ocean Technology Council of Nova Scotia (OTCNS) and Maritime UK Solent signed in March 2024 to support economic growth on the international stage, businesses in both the Solent and Halifax regions have participated in a series of online networking events. Additionally, Maritime UK Solent members have visited Halifax in Nova Scotia, with Canadian counterparts making the reverse journey to the UK. Speakers from the Canadian High Commission and New Brunswick addressed delegates at the Solent Coastal Powerhouse Summit in March. This latest visit to Portsmouth marks a significant milestone in the evolving partnership, as businesses meet in person to deepen connections and explore new collaborative opportunities.