Climate change and the Canadian energy sector

Included in this will be an examination of the characteristics of the workforce in terms of gender, age and other demo- graphic characteristics, and the extent that the labour force is represented by trade unions. [...] Our fourth objective is to understand how climate change in- itiatives are likely to change the nature of work in the industry and the char- acteristics of the workforce. [...] Total direct employment is slightly under 300,000 work- ers, or roughly 1.8% of Canada’s 17 million employed workforce in 2009.13 Employment in the energy sector in Canada has increased steadily in the 21st century and all projections by the government and the industries indi- cate that it will continue to increase into the future. [...] Where 32% of Climate Change and the Canadian Energy Sector 25 the workers in Canada were unionized in 2006, only 12.3% of those in the oil and gas sector were in trade unions. [...] In the low-growth labour scenario, the supply-demand gaps in the short term (by 2012) are likely to be in the trades and other non- support positions (2,355) and for engineers (679).