Question Period Note: Clean Jobs Training Centre

The Government of Canada committed to launching a Clean Jobs Training Centre to help workers across sectors upgrade or gain new skills so as to be on the leading edge of the zero carbon industry.

• The Government of Canada is committed to launching a Clean Jobs Centre to help workers across key sectors improve or gain new skills in order to be on the leading edge of the zero carbon industry.

• A successful transition to a low carbon economy depends on having a dynamic and diverse workforce with the right skills to drive it forward.

• With growth in the low-carbon economy projected to outpace the rest of Canada’s economy, accelerated action is needed to prepare the workforce for sustainable, well-paying green jobs of the future.

Overall, it is expected that jobs that support the low-carbon economy will increase at three times the rate of total employment, with as many as 400,000 new jobs to be created in fields that will demand a reshaping and enhancement of Canadians’ existing skillsets. Demand for skilled workers and labour shortages are expected to increase across a wide range of different occupations. While this transition will see the decline of certain sectors and associated displacement of workers, it will also bring opportunities in sectors in which Canada has both world-class expertise, and a competitive advantage.

Launching a Clean Jobs Training Centre (CJTC) to help workers upgrade or gain new skills to be on the leading edge of the zero carbon industry is a mandate commitment for the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion. It was recently referenced in Budget 2022, the Delivering for Canadians Now: A Supply and Confidence Agreement between the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party, and the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan.

Since July 2021, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) has been participating alongside Natural Resources Canada in consultation sessions on proposed Just Transition legislation, a Just Transition Advisory Board, and launching a CJTC. ESDC was able to leverage these consultations to seek extensive input from a diverse group of stakeholders representing the key players of Canada’s skills and training ecosystem including industry, academia, workers and organized labour, non-governmental organizations, youth, and experts in skills, training, and diversity and inclusion. Insights garnered through the consultations will be leveraged to inform the design and implementation of the CJTC.

The Department continues to advance work on this commitment in collaboration with relevant other government departments.

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