Canada is one of the world’s largest and lowest-cost producers of hydrogen. While there is an existing hydrogen workforce that knows how to produce, handle and use hydrogen safely at industrial scale, developing a low-carbon hydrogen economy will drive additional employment opportunities for a highly skilled, well-paid, technical and professional workforce. It will also contribute to sustaining employment for workers involved in high-emitting industries by offering these sectors a pathway to sustainability and achieving net zero through decarbonization.
A key objective of the Assessing Workforce Requirements to Advance Canada’s Hydrogen Economy report is to establish a common, foundational understanding of the core occupations needed by hydrogen supply and demand value chains. It also identifies opportunities to leverage skilled and available labour and the degree to which an additional workforce must be developed, while also identifying the potential risks to meeting hydrogen’s talent needs.
In addition to the report, a Hydrogen Workforce Assessment Tool has been created to support the HUB approach by presenting a detailed assessment of the occupations required for each value chain involved in the low-carbon hydrogen economy. With this tool, users can determine a HUB’s specific talent needs, opportunities and risks based on its associated value chain components.