Canada’s Clean Energy Sector Is Big, Growing Fast — and Largely Unknown

July 29, 2019

A significant part of Canada’s energy sector has been booming in recent years — but has anybody noticed?

Canada’s clean energy sector employed 298,000 Canadians as of 2017. What’s more, it’s growing in value by 4.8% every year — a third faster than Canada’s economy as a whole (3.6%).

But while political fights over oil pipelines dominate headlines, the clean energy sector is seldom discussed. In short, we’re missing a big piece of Canada’s energy picture.

Clean Energy Canada partnered with Navius Research to produce a unique, thorough and up-to-date report that explores clean energy, delving into investment in the sector and the resulting jobs and contribution to the Canadian economy.*

“This report highlights how much more there is to our energy sector than what we typically hear about in the news,” says Merran Smith, Executive Director of Clean Energy Canada. “When you consider both the clean energy sector’s size and its impressive growth, it’s clear a great story that’s been playing out in our country over the last decade has been going untold.

“As Canadians, we should be proud of our clean energy sector. It shows us that clean energy is a huge, growing part of our economy. It also shows us how much opportunity there is, and just how much we could lose if we try to stifle its growth. Clean energy isn’t on its way — it’s already here.”

Broadly put, the clean energy sector includes companies and jobs that help cut carbon pollution, whether by creating clean energy, moving it or shaping how — and how much — it’s used for heat, power and transportation. The sector is also a diverse, spanning white collar and blue collar jobs across every province.

Indeed, the clean energy sector is already a big part of our economy, and it will be an even bigger part of our future. It’s time we started talking about it.

Key facts
• There were 298,000 jobs in Canada’s clean energy sector in 2017.
• The value of the clean energy sector grew by 4.8% a year between 2010 and 2017. Compare that to the whole of Canada’s economy, which grew by 3.6% annually over that same period.
• The number of jobs grew by 2.2% a year between 2010 and 2017—nearly 60% faster the Canadian average.
• Investment in the clean energy sector went up by 70% between 2010 and 2017, mirroring well-above-average rises in its GDP.  
• Clean transport was the biggest employer, providing 57% of the jobs in 2017.
• Renewable energy supply is one of the biggest industries, providing 40% of the sector’s GDP contribution.

Clean Energy Canada is a climate and clean energy think tank within the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. This article was first published online by Clean Energy Canada.

* Read the report here.