British Columbia is facing a looming shortage of skilled and qualified workers needed for building a greener economy in the province. The shortfall could limit economic productivity and result in missed business opportunities over the next decade.
That is one of the main findings of a new independent report on B.C.’s emerging green economy by the GLOBE Foundation of Canada, a Vancouver-based, non-profit organization. British Columbia’s Green Economy: Securing the Workforce of Tomorrow is the result of a year-long research and outreach initiative, conducted by the foundation and funded in part by the Canada-British Columbia Labour Market Agreement.
The report stresses that B.C.’s abundant natural resources, clean energy choices and advanced research and educational strengths, coupled with its strategic location as Canada’s Pacific Gateway, position the province to realize significant economic and employment gains from the pursuit of low-carbon business opportunities.
Findings suggests that there could be nearly 202,000 direct full-time-equivalent green jobs in B.C.’s economy by 2020 – an increase of close to 85,000 jobs over the estimated 117,000 green jobs that existed in 2008.
However, it is estimated that roughly 22% of the green labour force will retire over the next six years. As a consequence, net growth in labour supply in six key sectors is projected to increase by only 1.5% annually to 2020. A significant gap between labour demand and supply could lead to a shortage of more than 60,000 green economy workers by 2020.
Roughly a third of the companies surveyed were already having difficulty filling positions with qualified workers – particularly experienced engineers, technicians/technologists, business development professionals and environmental consultants.
John Wiebe, president and CEO of the GLOBE Foundation, said, “Increased public- and private-sector investment in key green sectors, a focus on building the domestic market and low-carbon export opportunities with Asia, and a commitment to further developing B.C.’s green workforce are critical for a successful transition to a greener economy.”
The report concludes that B.C. has a solid foundation upon which to build a lower-carbon future, but that continued efforts are required to attract the innovators and entrepreneurs, to train skilled workers and to source the capital needed to build a sustainable green economy that will lead to economic prosperity in the province.