Workers want jobs that are of high quality and that endure into the future. Hesitancy toward transitioning to the clean economy often has to do with whether the new jobs offer the same security as the workers’ current jobs.-By Daniel Perez

The good news While workers in high-risk, low-mobility (HRLM) occupations often have pathways to clean economy occupations with sufficient retraining, it largely depends both on the current skillsets these workers currently have and what province they are in, as the ability to transition to these new occupations varies by province.

The opportunity To achieve this transition for at-risk workers, all stakeholders (employers, governments, unions) must provide stronger support for retraining and addressing barriers to career transition.

There are many indications that there is a green jobs boom across many continents around the world. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2022 Renewable Energy and Jobs Annual Review report, this boom could lead to more than 38 million renewable energy jobs by 2030. To this point, the greatest percentage of renewable energy jobs is solar photovoltaic (PV) at 4.3 million, hydropower and biofuels each providing 2.4 million, and wind power providing 1.3 million. The rest of the jobs growth is divided between geothermal, heat pumps, and ocean energy.

The Renewable Energy Opportunity

As of 2023, Canada only ranks 22nd in the world for installed solar capacity, far behind the Top 3 of the European Union, China, and the United States. Fortunately, the government of Canada does recognize this, as the 2.4K megawatt (MW) output in 2022 is a 13.6% increase over the 2.1K MW output in 2020. The total generated power in 2021 was 288 MW; this amount of renewable energy met about 7% of Canada’s energy demand. By comparison, wind and solar energy only made up 1% of Canada’s energy demand in 2009. Thus, progress is being made, but a lot more needs to be done, or Canada is in danger of falling way behind the rest of the world when it comes to the renewable energy economy.

Canada does have 48K solar installations, many of them full-fledged projects on large farms, but there is a rising number of smaller, independent farms as well. There are 190 total full-scale solar energy farms across the country, with most of them owned by indigenous communities. It is important to note that about 30% of these solar panels or farms cannot produce even one megawatt of energy, so there is certainly room for improvement in solar energy production. This is particularly true when the Canadian government had committed to “Net-zero GHG emissons by 2050”; to achieve this, Canada would need to invest at least $8 billion and 28K person-years, plus add 1.6K MW of solar energy capacity each year until then.

Right now, the province of Ontario is responsible for 98% of Canada’s solar power generation. Yet, it is the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta that have the greatest solar PV generation potential, each being able to produce 6.5 to 7.15 kilowatt-hours per square meter (kW.h/m²).

How To Take Advantage of the Solar Opportunity and the New Green Economy Jobs

The major problem at the moment is that many of Canada’s workers are not skilled at these new green economy jobs such as those in the solar energy sector. HRLM workers, workers who are in occupations at high risk of having those roles automated and who have limited career mobility, are particularly behind in handling these new skill positions.

Fortunately, there are career pathways to rapid-growth occupations in the clean economy, but as new research from The Conference Board of Canada and The Future Skills Centre shows, the ability to transition to these new occupations is uneven across Canada’s provinces and territories. This is particularly true in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan. The same research also shows that 1 in 5 Canadian employees are in an occupation that is at risk of automation, but has limited options to transition out of that occupation without significant training.

As Bea Bruske, the President of the Canadian Labour Congress, stated in a podcast circa October 2022, “employers, educational institutions, and unions must work together to address the needs of workers to acquire the right skills.” Workers must be able to retrain for these clean energy occupations while still at their current employment. This needs to apply to all Canadian workers, particularly HRLM workers, to help ensure they can still support themselves and their families, while at the same time preparing to transition to the new career pathways that the green economy is offering to them now and into the future.

Bruske mentions that this task to retrain workers while they are still in their current employment will require all stakeholders to participate in making that happen, plus it may also require government funding to make it happen, especially since the Canadian government wants to transition to a net-zero economy. The Canadian Labour Congress and other unions would like Just Transition legislation to help address these issues. Every stakeholder must come to the table and have their voices heard; what cannot happen is that the stakeholders don’t talk to each other and only one particular structure is implemented.

Issues That Need To Be Addressed To Transition To Green Energy Economy

Bruske points out that there must be community and worker input when it comes to the clean energy transition; it can’t just be the employer and the government talking about how to do this. Issues such as how the retraining is going to be developed and when this retraining is going to take place – while workers are still at their current jobs or after these jobs are eliminated – must be addressed.

Bruske again stresses how everyone – employers, unions, the provinces, and the federal government – must be on the same page when it comes to developing and implementing strategies to transition workers to the new green economy. Many people are anxious and fearful over the types of changes that will be needed for transition to this economy. Every stakeholder must be on the same page so as to minimize this anxiety and fear, plus provide the most effective training to these workers so that the transition happens as seamlessly as possible.