Environmental and Clean Technology Products Economic Account: Human Resource Module, 2022
Released: 2024-05-28
In 2022, environmental and clean technology (ECT) activity generated 327,506 employee jobs in the Canadian economy, up 1.3% from the previous year, surpassing pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. The ECT sector represented 1.6% of all jobs in Canada in 2022.
Almost two-thirds of ECT jobs (62.7%) in 2022 were found in the clean technology products subsector, which includes the production of manufactured goods (e.g., solar panels, efficient turbines, electric batteries), as well as the delivery of professional, scientific and technical services, construction services, and support services.
The remaining ECT jobs (37.3%) were found in the environmental products subsector, which includes the production of clean electricity, biofuels and primary goods, as well as the delivery of waste management and remediation services.
The environmental and clean technology workforce is predominantly composed of men
Women benefitted slightly more from the increase in the ECT jobs sector from 2021 to 2022. The number of jobs held by women increased by 1.8% (from 92,508 jobs in 2021 to 94,210 in 2022), while the number of jobs held by men increased by 1.1% (from 230,870 to 233,296) over this period. Nevertheless, men held 71.2% of jobs in the ECT sector in 2022, while the remaining jobs (28.8%) were held by women.
More than two-thirds (67.3%) of the ECT sector's workforce was 25 to 54 years old, and this proportion was slightly driven by employees aged 25 to 34 and those aged 35 to 44.
Average annual compensation in the environmental and clean technology sector is higher than the national average
Average annual compensation in the ECT sector increased year over year by 5.3%, from $96,438 in 2021 to $101,595 in 2022. This was $28,962 higher than the average annual compensation of $72,633 seen in the Canadian economy as a whole in 2022.
Among full-time workers in the ECT sector, women ($89,896) earned on average 22.8% less than men ($116,457) in 2022. The annual compensation gap between these women and men narrowed by 1.1 percentage points from 2010 to 2022.
Chart 1
National average annual compensation, environmental and clean technology products sector
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Note to readers
The aim of the Human Resource Module (HRM) is to provide timely and reliable statistics on the human resources associated with environmental and clean technology activities production in Canada.
The HRM complements and enhances the analytical capacity provided by the Environmental and Clean Technology Products Economic Account and allows for a broader insight into the sector's role in the economy by providing more detailed human resource information (e.g., gender, age, education, immigration status, Indigenous identity, wages and occupation types).
A methodology adjustment and the use of the latest census data lead to the revision of the entire time series. Estimates for 2021 and 2022 are preliminary and will be revised when updated data become available, including the supply and use tables for those reference years. The HRM provides annual estimates that cover employee jobs only. These estimates are based on national data from the Canadian Productivity Accounts, which are a key input to the HRM, as well as Labour Force Survey data. Data from the 2006, 2016 and 2021 Census of Population, as well as from the 2011 National Household Survey, are also incorporated.
Environmental and clean technologies are defined as any process, product or service that reduces environmental impacts through any of the following three strategies: environmental protection activities that prevent, reduce or eliminate pollution or any other degradation of the environment; resource management activities that result in the more efficient use of natural resources, thus safeguarding against their depletion; or the use of goods that have been adapted to be significantly less energy or resource intensive than the standard.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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