Energy efficiency efforts could create 118,000 Canadian jobs between now and 2030 – study

Environics Research found that 88% of Canadians were interested in buying more energy efficient appliances

According to new research from Clean Energy Canada(CEC), Canada’s GDP will see a 1 per cent boost between now and 2030 thanks to energy efficiency measures with Canadian households saving $114 a year on average. Energy efficiency can help Canada cut one-quarter of the carbon pollution needed to meet its international climate commitment.

The report states that an average of 118,000 annual jobs will be created due to economic activity enabled by energy efficiency measures.

“We talk about energy a lot in this country. Seldom do we talk about using it more productively. And yet the economic and climate impacts of energy efficiency are enormous—and enormously beneficial for Canadians,” said Merran Smith, executive director, Clean Energy Canada.

CEC and Efficiency Canada—a new national policy organization housed at Carleton University—hired Dunsky Energy Consulting to model the net economic impacts of energy efficiency measures in the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. (that is, measures to help homes, small businesses, and industry save on energy, like improved building codes.)

“Viewed through an economic lens, energy efficiency is a key contributor to growth in both GDP and jobs in every province across Canada. Put simply, energy efficiency works,” said Corey Diamond, executive director, Efficiency Canada.

Research also examined what even stronger energy efficiency measures could do for Canada, revealing untapped potential, both in terms of cutting carbon pollution and helping Canadians save on energy.

The results, according to CEC, which you can see here show that energy efficiency is an optimal path forward for Canada.

Between 2017 and 2030, Canada’s GDP will see a net increase of $356 billion thanks to energy efficiency measures in the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change.

Every $1 spent on energy efficiency programs generates $7 of GDP, according to the report.

Recent public opinion research from Environics Research found that 88% of Canadians were interested in buying more efficient appliances, 79% in upgrading their homes to save energy, and 78% in switching to more efficient heating and cooling systems.

The research from the report shows that an an average of 118,000 annual jobs will be created between now and 2030, due to economic activity enabled by energy efficiency measures.