FEATURED REPORT

Canadians have missed out on approximately 66,000 jobs because the federal government has failed to match the U.S. in renewable energy investments, according this report released by Blue Green Canada, an alliance between Environmental Defence Canada and United Steelworkers.

The report, Falling Behind: Canada’s Lost Clean Energy Jobs, is the first assessment of the employment impact of Canada’s failure to invest in clean energy.

The report measures the discrepancy in clean energy investment between the Canadian and U.S. federal governments since President Obama came to power. This measure includes support for renewable energy, greener transportation and energy efficiency. Key findings of the report include:

• Canada’s clean energy investment gap is $11.5 billion – if Canada matched the U.S. on a per person basis, an additional Cdn $11.5 billion would have been invested in clean energy.
• Canada dedicated less of its stimulus spending to clean energy than Mexico, the U.S., Australia, China and South Korea.
• If Canada’s spending matched U.S. investment in renewable energy alone, an additional estimated 66,000 jobs would have been created. This does not include the jobs opportunities lost in greener transportation and energy efficiency.

Within the next decade, clean energy could grow to become one of the world’s largest industrial sectors, ranking behind electronics and automotive products. BlueGreen Canada is calling on the federal government to prevent Canada from falling further behind by matching or surpassing U.S. clean energy investment, putting a price on carbon and designing policies to support clean energy manufacturing in Canada.

To download the report, click here.