Canada’s environmental workforce grew by five per cent in 2020 — adding nearly 35,000 net new jobs — even as the impact of the pandemic rattled the economy and labour markets.
That’s according to a new report from ECO Canada, which also forecasts thousands more environmental openings over the next five years.
“This is a sector that is continuing to grow and continuing to broaden,” said Kevin Nilsen of ECO Canada, a national human resources group based in Calgary that tracks the green jobs market.
ECO Canada’s count includes workers across various industries and occupations that drive or support environmental protection, resource management and sustainability.
The report, released Wednesday, says the environmental workforce added about 34,600 net new jobs last year, bringing the total to around 689,900 workers.
The gains were largely driven by environmental employment in Ontario (35,704) and Quebec (11,460), according to ECO Canada.
New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and the territories also added environmental jobs.
Six provinces saw decreases — due in part to declines in environmental work associated with natural resource sectors, including oil and gas, which saw activity sink during the pandemic.
Kevin Nilson is president and CEO of Eco Canada. Based in Calgary, Eco Canada is a national human resource organization supporting the environmental sector. (Eco Canada)
Nilsen listed several reasons for the gains in green jobs.
Among them, he said consumer demand has driven the market for environmental goods and services. There’s also growing interest in energy efficiency, sustainability and green investing. He said governments have also made investments in environmental initiatives.
Nilsen expects all provinces and territories will be looking for environmental workers over the next five years as the economy recovers and grows.
The forecast predicts there will be 173,000 net environmental job openings across the country through 2025, including 74,400 jobs created due to growth and 98,300 from retirement.
“This will be a sector that will require a lot of recent graduates, but also a lot of transitioning workers,” Nilsen said.
The highest rate of growth to 2025 is expected to be in Alberta, where various industries are forecast to need 34,900additional environmental workers over the period.
One source of activity will be Greengate Power’s Travers Solar project in southern Alberta.
When construction is complete by the end of 2022, it’s set to be Canada’s largest solar facility. Building it will require roughly 500 workers, said Greengate CEO Dan Balaban.
“As the technology continues to evolve and continues to improve, we expect that opportunity to grow here in the province,” Balaban said.
“But it’s also a global opportunity. It’s the fastest growing source of energy we have.”
U.S. President Joe Biden is advancing efforts to combat climate change in his country, something that might create opportunities for Canadian businesses. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)
A report from RBC Economics on Tuesday pointed to economic opportunities for Canada driven in part by the United States’ focus on climate change, pointing to carbon capture technologies, clean energy and electric vehicles.
Among the country’s advantages are expertise in clean technology, but it says “new investments in skills training and strategic immigration will be essential to Canada’s ability to retain or win higher-value aspects of supply chains.”
Trevor Melanson, spokesperson for Clean Energy Canada, said the B.C.-based think tank is anticipating significant growth in clean energy jobs through the rest of the decade.
But he said it’s also important that Canada keeps up with other nations, whether it’s in areas like green hydrogen or clean technology development.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
