Canada Sustainable Jobs Plan to Support Green Economy
Canada has released a long-awaited plan for sustainable employment. It shows how the federal government plans to train workers for jobs in the new clean energy industry, which is growing as countries around the world try to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Canada has unveiled a sustainable jobs plan that will be followed by legislation later this year. The plan will set up a sustainable jobs secretariat to coordinate government policies and a partnership council to promote consultation with provinces, labour unions, and other stakeholders. The government will also improve labour market data collection and funding for skills development and plans to release new sustainable jobs plan every five years, starting in 2025.
According to Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada has what it takes to become the clean energy and technology supplier of choice in a net-zero world. However, in Canada, which is the world's fourth-largest crude oil producer, the concept of retraining workers for clean energy jobs, also known as a "Just Transition," has been a topic of controversy.
Conservative Premier Danielle Smith of the crude-producing province Alberta has accused Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of wanting to phase out the oil and gas sector. She has said that the jobs plan is bad because it doesn't have a plan for exporting liquefied natural gas and doesn't acknowledge that the provinces have the right to manage their own natural resources.
In response, the federal government said that there are huge opportunities for clean energy in oil-producing provinces, like hydrogen and critical minerals.
There will also be sustainable jobs in conventional energy industries as Canadian producers aim to lower the carbon intensity of their crude.
The plan stated that, rather than a shortage of jobs, there is more likely to be an abundance of sustainable jobs with a shortage of workers required to fill them.
Think tank Clean Energy Canada expects jobs in the sector to grow by 3.4% annually over the next decade, almost four times faster than the Canadian average.
Source: Reuters
