In an audit dedicated to assessing how well the government is preparing energy workers for a transition to a low-carbon economy, the Auditor General of Canada says that it has only produced a discussion paper on the subject. Legislation has not yet been drafted. In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Kevin Krausert, CEO of an energy-based venture capital firm, says that this shouldn’t come as a surprise. He notes that this will be a massive undertaking. Also, given the number of different pathways and technologies possible to achieve a low-carbon economy, it is very difficult to predict the skill sets and number of workers that the energy sector of the future will need.
Nevertheless, the Auditor General’s report states that the federal government efforts to produce a just transition for workers displaced by the phase-out of coal were inadequate. It says the federal programs and benefits “fell short” of a just transition. The audit found that the government only carried out some of the recommendations of the Task Force on Just Transition for Canadian Coal Power Workers and Communities.