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Canada: Country of Diversity

Evonik Country Americas

Reading Time 3 min

June 25, 2018

Undisturbed landscapes and ultramodern major cities, a traditional nation of immigrants, and a significant supplier of raw materials: Canada is a country of diversity. The “other America” is the world’s tenth-largest economy and has the world’s third-largest oil reserves. Evonik and its predecessor companies have been there since 1974.

By Nicolas Garz

A quiet lake in front of a coniferous forest. Mountain peaks in the sunshine in the background. — Lakes, dense forests, and mountain ranges as far as the eye can see. Canada is a dream destination for lovers of adventure. It has approximately two million lakes and 11 percent of all the forests on our planet. It’s the world’s second-largest country, with an area as big as all of Europe. And with a population of 37 million, Canada is one of the least densely populated countries on earth.

An ice hockey player brakes on the ice, pieces of ice fly up. — Ice hockey is Canada’s national sport. “Team Canada,” the national men’s hockey team, have been the world champions 26 times and Olympics winners nine times—undisputed world records. On the ice, it’s not just speed and technique that count. Having the right hockey sticks is also crucial. The ideal hockey stick is both robust and as light as a feather. Inside the hockey sticks made by Bauer, a Canadian company, ROHACELL® hard foam from Evonik provides this optimal combination.

Two fishermen haul in a net in the rain. — The salmon catch has fed Canadians for many generations. However, today it has shrunk considerably due to the massive overfishing of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Instead, Canada is increasingly depending on sustainable salmon farming. In Maitland, Ontario, Evonik produces hydrogen peroxide, which is used as an active ingredient against sea lice—and is increasingly replacing other chemical agents against parasites.

A brightly lit street in Vancouver in the evening. The street is full of people, neon signs are lit up. — Lots of options for going out, hip pubs, and international flair: Vancouver offers young people in partic- ular a high quality of life and is also a popular college town. More than 60,000 students are registered at the renowned University of British Columbia, with which Evonik has been cooperating for years on a variety of projects. This cooperation has been fruitful: Many college graduates are now working for the Group.

Ein kleines Farmhaus inmA small farmhouse in the middle of yellow-gold fields. Above it a blue sky with veil clouds.itten gelbgolder Felder. Darüber ein blauer Himmel mit Schleierwolken. — Nature and high tech: The town of Mankota in Saskatchewan province is surrounded by endless fields of rapeseed, but that’s not all. This is also the site of a unique gas separation plant that is used by the US-based Weil Group to extract ultrapure helium from natural gas. The plant was built by Linde Engineering, and the SEPURAN® membrane technology it uses comes from Evonik

REACHING CUSTOMERS QUICKLY IN SPITE OF LONG DISTANCES

Evonik has three production facilities in Canada. In Maitland and Gibbons, they produce hydrogen peroxide, which is used by the region’s cellulose industry to develop sustainable packaging materials. In Morrisburg, the Group produces VISCOPLEX ®, a resource-conserving flow improver for lubricants. In addition, Evonik is doing research in Canada, primarily on applications in the healthcare sector.

Evonik locations

1 Morrisburg

2 Maitland

3 Burlington

4 Gibbons

5 Burnaby - North Fraser Way

6 Burnaby - Northbrook Court

At 6 locations in Canada, Evonik has about 180 employees.