TORONTO 鈥 Three-quarters of Canada鈥檚 oil and gas sector workers鈥450,000 people鈥攃ould lose their jobs by 2050, economists said on Tuesday, urging action to ensure they find other types of work.
The extraction and distribution of oil and gas accounts for more than one-quarter of Canada鈥檚 planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, making it a prime target for job cuts in the shift to renewable energy and clean fuels, said a report by TD Economics.
鈥淲e shouldn鈥檛 just assume that the transition for workers moving from carbon-intensive industries to the clean energy sector is going to be smooth,鈥 said Francis Fong, the report鈥檚 co-author and managing director of TD Economics.
As countries around the world commit to reducing their emissions to meet global climate targets, advocates for a 鈥渏ust transition鈥 say more must be done to ensure those working in fossil fuel industries are not left behind.
Canada has committed to reach net zero by 2050鈥攎eaning any climate-warming emissions that cannot be eliminated will be removed from the atmosphere, such as by planting trees or using technology to capture and store the gases.
Mr. Fong said the rise of clean energy will bring more jobs than will be lost but many oil and gas workers, mostly in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador provinces, could be laid off, like manual workers were in the 1990s.
As Canada鈥檚 manufacturing sector declined, new jobs were created but they were in different locations and required different skills, said the report, entitled Don鈥檛 Let History Repeat.
鈥淭he economic dogma at the time was just to assume that labor markets would adjust and that people would find their place naturally in the economy of the future鈥攁nd that clearly didn鈥檛 happen,鈥 Mr. Fong told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The impact of the transition will be felt hardest in small communities that are highly reliant on the oil and gas sector, like Fort McMurray and Cold Lake in Alberta, where they account for 25 to 30% of jobs, compared to 1.5% nationally, it said.
TD Economics recommended that Canada鈥檚 clean energy infrastructure should be focused in such communities, and called for the government to support and retrain fossil fuel workers.
鈥淚t is critical that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past and ensure a just transition for energy sector workers,鈥 it said. 鈥 Jack Graham/Thomson Reuters Foundation
