The Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition (COLC) is an alliance of organizations, networks, institutions, and communities working together to better understand and advance ocean literacy in Canada. Widely accepted internationally, ocean literacy is defined as understanding our impact on the ocean and the ocean’s impact on us.

The Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition’s (COLC) primary project since our inception in 2018 has been to lead a Canada-wide research initiative to better understand Canadians’ varying relationships with the ocean and to examine how ocean literacy (OL) is understood and practiced across different regions and sectors. The aim of this work is to establish a baseline seascape of OL in Canada, and in so doing, to co-develop an evidence-based national OL strategy and implementation plan.

Regional and national reports to emerge from our Understanding Ocean Literacy in Canada study are now available to consult in the report folders below.