Green Jobs and Sustainability Careers Statistics in Canada

In recent years, there has been a global shift towards a greener economy and sustainability, which has been clear in Canada, too. This shift has had a dramatic impact on the job markets, creating new jobs both in Canada and worldwide. Canada has vast natural resources and a commitment to a greener future, which drive the development of green jobs and careers in sustainability.

In this article, we explore what this new, fast-growing sector looks like through key statistics, including both present and future job prospects in the sector.

Green Jobs and Sustainability Careers Statistics for Canadians

• The green and sustainability sector generates over 345,000 in Canada.
• Almost two-thirds of the industry’s employees are men.
• The average salary in the green and sustainability sector is $12,000 higher than the average salary across all industries.
• 12% of online job advertisements were considered green jobs in 2023.
• Over 50,000 new jobs are created in the environmental industry between 2019 and 2029.
• The industry will have over 230,000 vacancies by 2029 because of the large number of retiring employees.
• Ontario will have the highest number of green job vacancies, while Alberta will experience the fastest growth by 2029.
• The Northwest Territories and Yukon have the highest concentrations of environmental workers.

Over 345,000 People Work in Green Jobs in Canada

According to Statistics Canada, 322,972 employee jobs were generated by environmental and clean technology in 2020. This was 5% fewer jobs than in 2019 as the sector, along with most others, was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the sector represented close to 2% of all jobs in Canada.

In addition to the over 300,000 employee jobs, the sector also generated 22,086 self-employed jobs, bringing the total number of jobs to 345,058 in 2020. However, according to ECO Canada, if we look more broadly, approximately 629,100 people in Canada can be counted as environmental workers with 46% being core environmental workers.

In 2020, 37% of the jobs were in the environmental products subsector, which includes the production of biofuels, green energy, and primary goods together with remediation and waste management services. The other 63% of the jobs were in the clean technology products subsector. This sector includes the manufacturing of, for example, wind turbines, solar panels, and electric batteries. It also delivers professional, scientific, technical, construction, and support services.

Green Job Demographics in Canada

In Canada, men hold 64.4% of all the green jobs with the remaining 36.6% filled by women (only two gender options were included in the statistics). The environment products subsector had an even higher proportion of men at 71%, while in the clean technology product sector, 59% of jobs were filled by men.

There is very little difference between age groups represented in green jobs, except for the 15-24 age group, which accounted for 9.5% of the jobs in the sector. The other age groups accounted for 22% to 24% each. 22% of the employees were aged 25 to 34, 22.4% were aged 35 to 44, 22.8% were aged 45 to 54, and 23.3% were aged 55 or over.

In 2019, approximately 60% of the sector’s employees had an education above high school level. 14.7% had a trade certificate, 25.8% had a college diploma, and 19.6% had a university degree or higher.

The Environmental Sector Has Higher Salaries Than the Canadian Average

According to Statistics Canada, the average wage in the green and sustainability industry is higher than the national average. On average, the industry’s employees earned $80,834 per year in 2020, up from $77,144 in 2019. The average salary is considerably higher than the national average of $68,678.

90.8% of the employees are working full-time jobs and the remaining 9.2% have part-time jobs. In full-time jobs, the average hourly wage was $41.11, while part-time employees earned $27.94 per hour on average.

There is a considerable difference between the average salaries for men and women employees in the industry. While the average salary for male employees was $86,413 in 2020, women earned $71,099 on average.

Job Market Trends in 2023

According to ECO Canada, 12.2% of 2,038,910 jobs advertised online in 2023 were considered green and sustainability jobs. This represented 248,230 green jobs in total. The first quarter of 2023 had the highest number of job postings with 67,210. Compared to 2022, there was an increase of 2%, with 4,228 more green jobs advertised in 2023.

While the number of green job postings increased across the country, 85% of them were concentrated in just four provinces: 75,070 in Ontario, 55,930 in British Columbia, 47,170 in Quebec, and 33,740 in Alberta. However, Saskatchewan had the biggest year-on-year increase in the number of green jobs advertised with 27% more postings in 2023 than in 2022. It was followed by Manitoba with 23% and Alberta and the Northwest Territories both with a 13% increase.

The top sector for green job postings was the professional, scientific, and technical services sector with 56,640 jobs advertised in 2023. However, this was 24% fewer jobs than in 2022. In contrast, green job postings in the educational sector increased by 24%, resulting in 28,680 postings in 2023.

The top occupation was civil engineering with 13,900 jobs advertised in 2023. The occupations that saw the most growth were biologists and related scientists with an increase of 1,490 job postings compared to 2022, while postings for geological and mineral technologists decreased by 3,650.

The Industry Will See Moderate Job Growth

According to ECO Canada, the green and sustainability job market will see moderate growth during the next five years. Between 2019 and 2029 the growth is expected to be 8.1%, resulting in 50,100 new jobs. Higher growth rates are expected in energy efficiency, clean technology, nature conservation clean and alternative energy, sustainable transportation, water quality, and green construction.

Aging Workforce Will Drive More Hiring

While the growth of new jobs will be modest, the industry will see approximately 183,400 people retiring by 2029. This is almost 30% of the current workforce, which will drive four times more hiring since the industry will have close to 233,500 job openings by 2029. Many of the people retiring will be vacating mid and senior-level roles, which creates opportunities for career progression for current and future workers.

Almost Two Out of Five Job Openings Will Be in Ontario

In line with Ontario having the largest population in Canada, it will also have the most green and sustainability job openings by 2029. It is estimated that the will be 90,100 job openings in Ontario, accounting for almost 40% of all openings across Canada. The large number of job openings is partly due to around 30% of its environmental workforce expected to retire by 2029.

In contrast, Quebec will see reduced growth between 2019 and 2029 compared to the growth rates observed before 2019. Nine out of ten job openings in Quebec will likely be created through retirement rather than the creation of new jobs.

According to ECO Canada’s study of the green job market, Alberta is expected to have the highest growth rate in the country. It is estimated that 14,400 new jobs will be created between 2019 and 2019, which is a 14% growth rate. This growth will be driven by investment in clean technology, renewable energy, and emissions reduction by both business and individual consumers. If we factor in demand created by the need to replace the workforce leaving the industry, Alberta will need to fill around 44,900 jobs by 2029.

The Highest Concentration of Environmental Workers Is in the Northwest Territories

While the territories cannot compete with the provinces in the numbers of green jobs, two of them have the highest concentrations of environmental workers in Canada; 7.2% in the Northwest Territories and 6.9% in Yukon.

These two territories are also expected to see significant green job opportunities created over the next decades as the territories seek to remediate contaminated extraction sites. Examples of these sites include the closed Giant Mine in the Northwest Territories and the Faro Mine in Yukon.

Business Investments and Government Initiatives Will Drive the Creation of Green Jobs

Outside of the territories where remedial works will create a large share of new green jobs, government initiatives and business investment will create most of the new jobs. Examples of these initiatives include the Site C dam and hydroelectric generating station in British Columbia, investments in clean energy infrastructure in Saskatchewan, and the Keeyask hydroelectric generating station in Manitoba.

In Canada’s Atlantic provinces, Nova Scotia has energy efficiency programmes such as EfficiencyOne and New Brunswick the Atlantica Centre for Energy, which will both have both new and replacement job openings in the future.

Top Occupations in the Green and Sustainability Sector

According to the report by ECO Canada, in 2019, the top occupations within the core green workforce were civil engineers, administrative officers, and senior managers. The industry employed 32,200 civil engineers in 2019 and 29,800 administrative officers.

13,800 of the industry’s core workers were senior managers in health, education, social, and membership organisations, while another 13,000 were senior managers in construction, transportation, production, and utility companies.

Key Skills Employers Look for in the Environmental Sector

The skills employers most value when hiring new workers can be divided into knowledge and technical skills and soft skills. Knowledge and technical skills include industry knowledge; education and training; policy and legislation; research and development; and public awareness. Soft skills include project management, leadership, communication, problem solving, and negotiation skills.

Conclusion

The environmental sector represents a growing part of Canada’s economy and the number of new green jobs is growing steadily. The industry will also need to fill a large number of vacancies because a large proportion of its employees is expected to retire by 2029. The creation of new jobs and replacement demands create opportunities for both new and existing employees.

There are various roles within the sector ranging from administrative roles to working in the field on conservation or remedial projects. With Canada committed to greener practices and a sustainable future, job opportunities within the industry will likely continue to grow beyond the 2029 forecast period.