Canada’s leadership on climate change has helped foster and grow the methane mitigation industry into an economic engine. New regulations can help this economic sector continue to grow and create good Canadian jobs.
Creating jobs and cleaning up the air, the Canadian methane mitigation industry is a dynamic and growing part of the Canadian economy. This industry not only plays a crucial role in reducing methane emissions from Canadian oil and gas production, it also creates good paying jobs and supports communities across Canada, from St. John’s, Newfoundland to Vancouver, British Columbia and Windsor, Ontario to Ft. McMurry, Alberta.
SNEAK PEEK: New maps detail Canada’s robust and growing methane mitigation industry Share on X
A new report from Datu Research will highlight the key characteristics of Canada’s methane mitigation industry, showcasing its robustness, geographical distribution, economic impact and job quality. These are the companies that develop, manufacture and deploy the technologies that are helping Canada’s oil and gas industry reduce methane pollution, firms like Montreal’s GHGSat and Edmonton manufacturer Sirius Controls.
This industry creates jobs reducing methane, which is the main chemical component of natural gas, increasing efficiency and combatting climate change since in the short-term methane is over 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
And this report could not be timelier as the country is poised to finalize strong new standards from Environment and Climate Change Canada designed to cut methane pollution from the oil and gas industry by 75%.
The report to be released in early March includes these maps and key findings:
Canada has a robust methane mitigation industry. A total of 79 manufacturing firms and 53 service firms provide oil and gas operators with the equipment and services they need to directly reduce methane emissions. And many of the firms have multiple employee locations in Canada. Manufacturing firms account for 196 employee sites, and service firms, for 160. Alberta is home to more than half of these sites. Provinces with large numbers of employee locations include Ontario (79), Quebec (30), British Columbia (29) and Saskatchewan (17). This widespread presence ensures that the benefits of the industry are felt across the country.
Most of the firms are small businesses, known to be a powerful source of economic growth. In manufacturing as well as services, small businesses account for more firms than all the other size categories combined.
The methane mitigation industry is creating high-quality, well-paying jobs. Dozens of job types are involved in manufacturing and services for mitigating methane in Canada, with relevant median wages ranging from $20 to $60.58 per hour depending on job type. Many of them require work onsite at oil and gas facilities, making them less susceptible to offshoring.
This study shows that mitigating methane emissions not only helps combat climate change and local air pollution but also benefits Canada’s economy. Mitigating methane is also extremely cost effective — the International Energy Agency estimates that a third of Canada’s total methane emissions from oil and gas operations could be avoided at no net cost, and that Canada could achieve its methane emissions reduction target of 75% at an average cost well below the current and projected federal (industrial) carbon price. What’s more, mitigation of methane emissions is critical to ensuring the competitiveness of Canadian energy exports in a global marketplace that is increasingly looking for cleaner sources of energy.
Canada’s climate policy leadership has helped foster and grow the methane mitigation industry into the economic engine it is today, and the regulations awaiting finalization from cabinet in the coming days can help this economic sector continue to grow and create good Canadian jobs.
