700,000 new energy jobs by 2050 - we're reporting on how to get there

This past fall, I travelled to Prince Edward Island for a climate solutions story that dug into an often overlooked problem: the number of workers needed to build the renewable energy projects required for the energy transition. If Canada successfully achieves net zero by 2050, 700,000 more energy jobs will exist than today, but our workforce isn’t on track to meet that demand.

I drove alongside red dirt to one of the few colleges that offers training for wind technicians in Canada, watched brave students scale a turbine and talked to them about how hopeful they are for the future of the renewable energy industry. I interviewed experts on the challenge at hand and heard about the potential pathways to train the next generation of renewable workers.

While this story highlighted a monumental challenge and didn’t shy away from the complexity of the problem, it showed two things: There are eager people who want to work in these fields and make a difference, and there are ways to meet the moment and build the workforce.  Stories like these are only possible with your support — will you donate to the Climate Solutions Reporting Project's Spring 2025 fundraiser and help us reach our $150,000 goal by May 22?

The impacts of climate change are undeniably here – more frequent and intense weather events are having devastating outcomes for communities from coast to coast. Canada’s National Observer is dedicated to reporting on the entire picture of the climate crisis: the industries that produce planet-warming fossil fuels, the governments responsible for the policies to reduce them and the people on the ground, grappling with the impacts firsthand.

We are also committed to highlighting the needed solutions to tackle the climate crisis — something often overlooked by mainstream media.

I’ve spoken to researchers who say that mainstream media often skirts solutions journalism altogether, or when they do report on solutions, they often focus on individualistic approaches. This contrasts with independent media, which does a better job at reporting on solutions such as adaptation measures that can keep communities safer from floods, fires and storms.

My renewable job training story is just one example of the dozens of climate solutions stories I’ve written over the past year. I’ve dug into the planned obsolescence of appliances and how better laws could help; what we could learn from new wildfire rules in Oregon; and spent a week on the James Bay Coast reporting a story that explored the solution of all-season roads in Ontario’s north as First Nations grapple with shortening ice road seasons.

I’ve also taken a sobering look at Canada’s tidal industry and wrote a reality check on the Nova Scotia government’s plans to open the province to fracking and uranium mining. 

None of those stories would have been possible without your support. Sending a reporter to Prince Edward Island for a story on renewable jobs is no small feat for an independent publication like ours. However, we know that on-the-ground reporting makes for more in-depth journalism, and that climate solutions deserve that attention.  Will you help us reach our $150,000 goal by May 22? Your donation to the Climate Solutions Reporting Project enables us to continue this critical on-the-ground reporting in communities across Canada.

As a new federal government arrives in Ottawa, presenting solutions and holding policymakers accountable for what needs to be done to tackle the climate crisis is more important than ever. Canada’s National Observer will be there at every turn — pushing beyond the news cycle and making sure our readers are informed on the reality of the climate crisis and the science-backed solutions needed to address it. Your donation gives us the needed support to keep doing what mainstream media won’t.