Ottawa, Ontario—Converting Canada’s economy to virtually eliminate greenhouse-gas emissions could 
create almost 4 million construction jobs over the next 35 years, says a study commissioned by Canada’s Building Trades Unions. “Serious efforts to decarbonize the Canadian economy will create significant opportunities for those in construction trades,” said the report, “Jobs for Tomorrow—Canada’s Building Trades and Net Zero Emissions,” released Aug. 10. Getting the country to net zero emissions, it said, “will require the work of a variety of tradespeople, including masons, boilermakers, pipefitters, insulators, electrical workers, glaziers, HVAC, linemen, ironworkers, and other construction trades.” “We need that construction workforce to get us to net zero,” said Bob Blakely, chief operating officer of the 14-union alliance. The study projects that new eco-friendly construction and retrofitting could create almost 2 million direct non-residential construction jobs; converting the electrical supply grid to primarily hydroelectric, wind, solar, geothermal, and tidal power generation could create over 1.1 million more; and building $150 billion worth of public-transportation infrastructure, such as rapid transit tracks and bus lanes, could create another 245,000. Read more
