Press Release
Key Messages
The federal government has passed the Sustainable Jobs Act to advance support for workers and communities affected by the energy transition and harness the opportunities of a low-carbon economy. To address existing socio-economic inequities and the disproportionate impacts of fossil fuels on Indigenous communities, as well as to meet the federal government’s commitments to transforming its relationship with Indigenous Peoples, sustainable jobs efforts must intentionally advance Indigenous self-determination. This is vital to ensuring Indigenous Peoples are well positioned to capitalize on clean-economy opportunities.
This brief provides recommendations, grounded in lessons and successes from Indigenous Clean Energy’s programs and experiences, to inform how federal sustainable jobs programming and investments can be implemented to support Indigenous-led solutions in clean energy and energy efficiency. Recommendations include the following:
1 The authors thank reviewers Chris Henderson, Alienor Rougeot, Ana Guerra Marin, Megan Gordon, Lynne Couves, and Emily He for their comments, as well as Serene Parenteau for research support.
Enable Indigenous equity: Create adaptive and flexible funding mechanisms, include funding set-asides for Indigenous Peoples, provide long-term and multi-phase project support, prioritize Indigenous procurement, and support access to clear, updated information.
1.0 Introduction
The energy transition is underway and presents immense challenges and opportunities for workers and communities across Canada. Understanding the opportunities and impacts of this transition for Indigenous communities in Canada is particularly important, given the fraught legacy of fossil fuel development on Indigenous lands and Canada’s responsibilities and commitments to respect Indigenous rights and governance. It is also essential to support the many Indigenous communities that rely on revenue and employment from fossil fuel projects on their territories.
Despite being disproportionately impacted by climate change and extractive industries, Indigenous Peoples are leading the way in responding to climate impacts and transforming energy systems (Reed et al., 2024). Indigenous Nations and communities are the majority holders of clean energy assets outside of Crown and private utilities in Canada, emerging as leaders essential for achieving a net-zero future (Gall et al., 2022; Henderson, as cited in Halm, 2022). There are nearly 200 medium-to-large renewable energy projects and an additional 1,700–2,100 small projects with Indigenous ownership, partnership, or other involvement in Canada (Gall et al., 2022).
To support the continued participation and leadership of Indigenous Peoples in transitioning energy systems and fostering climate resilience, federal sustainable jobs programs and investments must be created through partnerships with Indigenous Peoples and embed the right to self-determination. Sustainable job efforts are an opportunity to address the inequities that colonialism and fossil fuel extraction have imposed upon Indigenous Peoples while building upon and advancing the growing stream of Indigenous-led clean energy and climate solutions. If pursued with respect for the self-determination of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people, federal sustainable jobs and transition policies could respond to calls for “bold action… [with] the necessary tools and support to advance decolonization and decarbonization”(Reed et al., 2024). To do so, planning and policies around sustainable jobs should account for the ways in which cumulative climate impacts intersect with ongoing legacies of colonialism to affect the health, culture, language, knowledge transfer, and well-being of Indigenous Peoples.
Sustainable jobs policies should support Indigenous Peoples working in high-emitting and transition-vulnerable sectors—for instance, in the oil and gas industry, where Indigenous Peoples comprise 6% of the workforce (Government of Canada, 2021). Moreover, these policies should address the broader systemic marginalization of Indigenous Peoples in the Canadian economy and workforce to address the reality that Indigenous Peoples are more likely to experience shock and risk to job security in a transitioning economy (Chernoff & Cheung, 2023; Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs, 2022).
A number of Indigenous organizations and communities have made recommendations or comments regarding the Sustainable Jobs Act and Action Plan. Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation has called upon the federal government to “establish measures that account for and advance the unique Rights, circumstances, needs and interests of Indigenous Peoples in the transition to a net-zero economy” in developing the Sustainable Jobs Action Plan (Standing Committee on Natural Resources, 2023). Others have cautioned that reframing the approach from “just transition” legislation to the more narrow “sustainable jobs” focus risks missing opportunities to address broader inequities through the energy transition (Laboucan-Massimo et al., 2023).
Adding to this conversation, this brief provides recommendations grounded in lessons and successes from Indigenous Clean Energy’s (ICE’s) work supporting Indigenous employment capacities in the energy transition to inform how sustainable jobs legislation and investments can be implemented to further advance Indigenous-led solutions. The following sections outline federal commitments to Indigenous Peoples in the Sustainable Jobs Act and related laws and declarations before detailing a series of recommendations to work toward fulfilling these commitments through sustainable jobs policies and investments.
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