Dalhousie is the first university in Canada to offer an Ocean Science degree program. The institution has significant ocean teaching and research excellence across multiple disciplines.

The Faculty of Open Learning & Career Development (OLCD) at Dalhousie is the main administrator for the Centre.

For more than 35 years, OLCD has been providing top-quality solutions for the educational and training needs of learners. It is strongly connected to industry and government, directly addressing the demands of a changing labour market. It also has the necessary mechanisms to help build curriculum, development microcredentials and support the Dalhousie experience for non-credit students.

Through these mechanisms and the support of internal and external partners, OLCD will deliver a program that truly advances ocean observing capacity globally.

The Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University is a comprehensive centre for education, training, applied research and industrial support for the ocean industries. It provides hands-on learning experience to scholars in all levels of study.

The institute has three schools – fisheries, maritime studies and ocean technology. It also has a number of research centres and specialized units to support ocean observation, including The Launch in Holyrood, the Centre for Applied Ocean Technology and the Centre for Marine Simulation.

The Launch provides state-of-the-art infrastructure and expertise to support critical, at-sea research and education not collectively found at any other institution in the country. This ocean innovation hub is located on the most southerly point of the Labrador Current, allowing for almost year-round, deep-water and cold-ocean observation and research.

The Hakai Institute, based in British Columbia on the West Coast of Canada, supports science to guide stewardship. It consists of multiple ecological observatories, including the Quadra Island Ecological Observatory, which sits at the junction of three ocean influences: the Salish Sea to the south, Johnstone Strait and the Pacific Ocean to the northwest, and Bute Inlet and its icefields to the north.

The Hakai Institute has significant expertise in technology, including sensor networks, geospatial mapping information technology, and computer modelling, and science communications.

As a POGO Member, the Hakai Institute brings a cluster of partners together to enhance the scholars’ experience. A primary focus will be on science communication, bringing in personnel from the Hakai Magazine, in addition to immersive, hands-on learning in implementing collaborative science for solutions. Hakai’s sister division in the Tula Foundation, the UN Ocean Decade Regional Collaborative Centre for the Northeast Pacific, will also bring in global and timely relevance to the program.