Thank you, Chair.
I'm Andrew Brown, senior assistant deputy minister for the skills and employment branch at Employment and Social Development Canada.
I'd like to begin by acknowledging that I'm participating in today's committee meeting from the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.
I'd also like to echo the sentiments of my colleague from Natural Resources Canada, Ms. Scharf. A key component of a just transition is helping Canadians have the skills and training they need to seize the growing economic opportunities arising from Canada's ambitious goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. I would like to elaborate on what ESDC is doing to support this from a workforce development perspective.
While climate change will result in a number of employment challenges, the shift to a low-carbon economy will also provide exceptional opportunities to build an inclusive and skilled workforce to drive economic growth. As Ms. Scharf highlighted, Canada's clean energy sector is growing. In fact, this growth will continue to accelerate, doubling to approximately 640,000 workers by 2030.
In addition to clean energy, other priority sectors related to the low-carbon economy include construction, natural resources, transportation, environment and the emerging battery supply chain industry. Employers and workers across sectors and industries will require varying levels of support to develop the skills needed to seize current and emerging opportunities. Employment and Social Development Canada is committed to leveraging our existing skills and employment programming to train, upskill and reskill workers to help ensure that all Canadians can benefit from these opportunities, especially those from equity-deserving groups.
The mandate of the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion includes three specific commitments to support the skills component of a just transition: first, to support the Minister of Natural Resources and the Minister of Labour in moving forward with just transition legislation; second, to launch a clean jobs training centre to help workers across sectors upgrade or gain new skills to be on the leading edge of the zero-carbon industry; third, to address gaps in training and upskilling to help ensure that all Canadian workers can take advantage of sustainable battery industry opportunities.
The department is making progress with regard to each of these commitments. For example, ESDC has supported and will keep supporting our colleagues at Natural Resources Canada throughout the stakeholder consultation process, to move us closer to tabling a just transition act in Parliament.
We'll also consult with these subject matter experts on the development of the clean jobs training centre to help ensure a people‑centred approach to this new initiative.
In addition, the government announced a major new investment of $960 million in budget 2021 for the new sectoral workforce solutions program. A key pillar of this program is to prioritize investments in building talent for the low‑carbon economy across multiple sectors.
The program will support the design and delivery of training and human resources solutions that meet the needs of businesses, especially small and medium‑sized businesses, as well as help recruit and retain a diverse and inclusive workforce.
We just closed a round of a call for proposals for the sectoral workforce solutions program in March, and we are currently in the process of assessing and prioritizing projects. Projects to address the skills needed for a just transition could begin as early as summer 2022. In addition, Employment and Social Development Canada has a large suite of skills and employment programming, and we are currently exploring how these programs can also be leveraged to support just transition and the implementation of Canada's new emissions reduction plan.
Given my time, I'll try to close up by saying that I believe that addressing emerging labour shortages and equipping the workforce with new skills will be a critical enabling element of our collective actions on just transition. I look forward to advancing the department's contribution on this important issue.
Thank you.