Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
Five years ago, in a meeting with many of you elected officials, the number one message I had was that climate action wasn't about pain; it was about gain. It was that the energy transition was about jobs and the economy.
What was an idea then is clearly a reality now. Over 430,000 Canadians are already employed in the clean energy sector. This number is set to grow by almost 50% by 2030. Modelling that we did with Navius Research estimates that while 126,000 jobs will be lost in fossil fuels by 2030 as global markets transition away from oil and gas, 209,000 jobs will be created in clean energy.
We also found that the biggest relative clean energy job growth would happen in Alberta. The province has the best wind and solar resources in the country. Consider the Travers solar facility in southern Alberta. It's Canada's largest solar panel project, which is creating over 1,000 jobs during peak construction. In Edmonton, Air Products Canada right now has a blue hydrogen project with $1.3 billion of investment, which will create 2,500 jobs in construction and engineering jobs in the near term, with more job creation to come in the hydrogen transportation industry over the long term.
This transition isn't just about the energy sector. We're seeing automakers rebrand themselves. I don't know that if you noticed that electric vehicles dominated the Super Bowl ads. That's a sign of the change that's happening. In March, we landed the single largest investment in automaking in Canada since the 1980s, if not ever. It's a $5-billion gigafactory in Windsor that's supporting 2,500 new jobs. This is an opportunity to save our auto sector and to grow it in new ways.
This is but one of the many recent commitments in Canada's battery supply chain. Almost overnight, Canada set itself up to play an integral role in electrifying the North American auto industry. The hard work and coordination of federal and provincial governments were really key to landing these big deals.
This summer, Clean Energy Canada and the Trillium Network are going to be releasing new research that quantifies the size of Canada's battery supply chain opportunity for jobs. I don't have the data to share fully with you today, but I'll offer a brief spoiler. These jobs are going to exist across Canada, in rural and suburban regions alike, as well as across industries—mining, manufacturing and components. A well-designed, clean industrial strategy is going to be what's needed to land these types of jobs and more investment, potentially, across the country. We can see the job creation starting in this energy transition in Canada.
I have another important message. It really builds on what Dan was saying, and it's just as critical as the economic one. The most salient issue in Canada right now is the cost of living. The clean energy transition is a solution to this problem, as well.
In the plainest sense, transitioning to clean energy lowers energy bills. This is coming from the International Energy Agency, which has shown that with current government policies, average household energy bills will decline in advanced economies between now and 2050. Where governments introduce more policy, it declines even further. The Canadian Climate Institute found the same thing. Again, Canadians will spend a smaller share of their incomes on energy as we move.
Yes, electricity bills will be higher. We'll use more electricity, but getting off of fossil fuels, combined with energy efficiency, is ultimately a recipe for savings. I don't know if any of you saw a recent report called “The True Cost”. It showed that, over eight years, electric vehicles were thousands of dollars cheaper overall than comparable gas models. Again, when you waste less energy and use less wasteful energy, you save money. That's because a lot of energy is lost in heat for the fossil fuels.
However, there's one hurdle we must address, which is that something that saves you money in the long run often comes with a higher price tag today. This is an area where government needs to help. Lower-income Canadians need measures made for them, such as rebates for used EVs, for example.
I want to end by saying that the global energy transition is well under way. Our largest trading partners are investing billions in these newly imagined economies. The EU's race to reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels foreshadows where the global economy is going.
One of the most effective things that Canada can do to create a fair and equitable transition is to invest in that energy transition. Invest with good policy and regulations to hasten decarbonization, with tax credits, strategic investments and with a clear signal of policy certainty, so that the private sector can align their investments with this clean energy future.
Thank you very much.