Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to speak today and to follow the hon. parliamentary secretary. I will try to be as eloquent as he was.
It is important for me to speak to this issue today. It is very important for my constituents, as I found out during the course of a consultation in my riding on climate change. It is also one of the reasons the inaction of the previous government and, indeed, its distrust of science and scientists led me to leave my previous employment in the academy and seek public office.
I have to also admit, on a point of pride, that nothing makes a former teacher prouder than to see one of his students sitting in the House as Minister of Environment and Climate Change, which is precisely what happened.
I would like to elaborate and move the discussion from what my hon. colleague has just said.
First, I would like to acknowledge that Canada is committed to creating a cleaner and more innovative economy that reduces emissions and protects our environment, while creating well-paying jobs for the middle class and those who work hard to join it.
Today, the government is proposing its pan-Canadian approach to carbon pricing, as my colleague and the Prime Minister outlined this morning. Under the new plan, all Canadian jurisdictions will have carbon pricing in place by 2018. The Paris agreement emphasizes how Canada will harness the power of renewable energy as a way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Canada has to lead on this, and the government is proposing to lead on this, and this measure will lead us there.
However, for those who fear a carbon tax, this will be a good thing for our economy. Canada's renewable energy and clean tech industry will begin to play a much more critical role in our Canadian economy. It has developed a base already, but developing a strong Canadian clean technology industry is paramount to the development of a prosperous and sustainable low carbon economy, and we can help provide solutions globally to address the question of climate change.
This industry contributed $11.6 billion to Canada's GDP in 2014 and directly supported over 55,000 jobs across the country. These are quality jobs that sustain Canadian families. Canada's clean technology entrepreneurs are on a mission to innovate and create high-value, high-quality jobs that have a positive impact on climate change and the environment. There are close to 800 Canadian clean tech firms operating in Canada. Over 90% of these firms are small and medium-sized enterprises poised for growth.
These companies play a critical role in creating clean electricity, clean energy, and in reducing the environmental footprint for all of Canada's manufacturing industries, including our natural resource industries, helping them to become more efficient and more competitive internationally. This is a 21st century industry sustaining innovative advanced manufacturing jobs from coast to coast to coast and it is one that a carbon price will help spur, continue to grow, and create incentives to grow.
We want Canadian companies to be world leaders in using and developing clean, sustainable technologies and processes that can be exported worldwide. Achieving that goal will strengthen our economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The 2016 federal budget announced a number of investments, including $1 billion for clean energy technology, $2 billion for a fund that will help us work with the provinces to transition to a low-carbon economy; over $100 million for energy efficiency; and $50 million for Sustainable Development Technology Canada.
As part of the new trade and investment strategy and to make the most of the investments in budget 2016 and national plans for sustainable resource development, climate change, and innovation, we consulted Canadian clean technology exporters to find out how the government can help them compete in the global market.
This is a truly national sector with industry clusters, jobs, and commercial benefits stretching across the country. Canada has a strong industrial process cluster in Quebec, a mature water cluster and a renewable energy cluster in Ontario, and marine energy clusters on two coasts. We are the world's leader in carbon capture and storage, with projects stretching across the Prairies, including SaskPower Boundary Dam project, Shell Canada's Shell Quest project in Alberta, and the world's largest carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery project in Midale, Saskatchewan.
In the north, clean technology is even changing the way we mine at Raglan's nickel mine complex in Nunavik. Tugliq Energy, a company headquartered in the riding of my hon. colleague and member for Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, has implemented a new project setting a new standard for industrial scale wind energy in Canada's north. The project features leading-edge energy storage with an Arctic-grade wind turbine and has successfully demonstrated the economic and environmental benefits for Canada's northern mining operations and communities.
Green collar jobs are not low-skill, part-time jobs. They are jobs in innovative fields, including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This new progressive sector is also noteworthy in that it attracts and employs youth. Twenty-one per cent of employees in the sector are under thirty years of age, a percentage well above the Canadian average.
In global markets, Canadian clean technology businesses punch well above their weight. More than 87% of our small and medium-sized clean technology businesses are exporters, and the clean tech industry as a whole generates more than 50% of its revenue in global markets.
Although the United States is still our largest export market, Canadian exports of clean technologies are very diverse, and more than 40% of those exports go to markets other than the United States. We now expect that exports will only increase with a sharp global shift to low-carbon economies.
In fact, Asia, Latin America and Africa have shown increasing interest in Canadian clean technologies. There are ample opportunities to increase exports. The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service has new programs such as CanExport, which provides direct financial support to small and medium-sized Canadian firms to help them find new markets, and is ready and eager to help these companies prepare to enter global markets and be successful.
Canadian clean technology firms embody Canadian innovation. The technological dynamism of these firms has contributed to innovations across a broad spectrum of sectors, including renewable green energy, green infrastructure, natural resources, and green transportation.
The Canadian clean technology sector invested approximately 10% of total sector revenue, or $1.2 billion back into research and development in 2014. That is more than 10 times the Canadian average of 0.9%. It even exceeds research and development investments of well-known innovative sectors, such as aerospace and oil and gas.
It should also be pointed out that three-quarters of clean technology research and development spending was made by Canadian SMEs. They firmly believe that strategic investments in innovation are the foundation for sustainable growth, and so do we.
Environmental protection and economic growth go hand in hand. Clean technologies are a key part of the government's approach to promoting sustainable economic growth, and they play an important role in fulfilling our commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
This sector has many benefits for the environment. For example, technologies implemented by 66 companies and funded by Sustainable Development Technology Canada have led to a reduction in greenhouse gases of 4.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents in 2014 alone. This is equivalent to taking 950,000 vehicles off the road for one hour.
Canadian businesses in that industry are net exporters and help countries all around the world reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
For instance, I had the opportunity to visit Canadian Solar, based in Guelph, in my hon. colleague's riding. It is one of the largest manufacturers of photovoltaic systems in the world.
Our government wants to make Canadian firms leaders in the use and development of clean technology, and carbon pricing is a good step to get us there.