Canada’s energy industry is heading toward a significant workforce crunch, with a new report warning that more than 72,600 job vacancies could open up across the sector by 2035 a figure driven by a wave of retirements and the rise of new energy technologies that are creating demand for entirely different skill sets.
The report, published by Careers in Energy a labour-market platform operated by Energy Safety Canada and partially funded through the federal government’s Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program paints a detailed picture of an industry in the middle of a generational shift. According to the findings, roughly 54,200 workers in both conventional oil and gas and emerging energy fields will reach retirement age within the next decade. On top of that, the sector is expected to generate around 18,400 brand-new positions as it evolves and expands.
The pressure may arrive sooner than many expect. The report flags 2027 as a potential turning point, when labour shortages could begin to bite in earnest. The roles most at risk of being left understaffed include drilling and servicing operations, engineering, facility management, skilled trades, transportation, and heavy equipment operation precisely the kinds of hands-on, technically demanding jobs that take years to train for and are difficult to fill quickly.
At the same time, growth in cleaner energy segments is creating fresh demand in areas like liquefied natural gas, low-carbon hydrogen, biomass fuels, and carbon capture and storage. These aren’t entry-level roles; they require specialized expertise that the current talent pipeline isn’t yet producing at scale.
There’s an interesting tension at the heart of the report’s findings. While advancing technology means that the same amount of energy can increasingly be produced with fewer workers, that efficiency gain isn’t translating into reduced hiring needs. Rising overall energy demand, combined with the requirement for highly specialized technical knowledge, means workforce pressures are intensifying regardless.
Energy Safety Canada said the findings highlight the need for coordinated action not just from individual companies, but across government, educational institutions, and the industry at large to plan ahead, invest in training, and build pipelines for both experienced and emerging professionals.
The report’s conclusions don’t come out of nowhere. Federal data from Statistics Canada has consistently shown labour shortages in skilled trades, construction, industrial occupations, and engineering support roles in recent years. Many Canadian employers have continued to flag difficulty filling these positions, a challenge that directly overlaps with the occupations Careers in Energy identifies as most vulnerable to recruitment strain.
Longer-term employment data also suggest that Canada’s energy sector has remained more resilient than headline commodity downturns might suggest. While jobs in oil and gas extraction, utilities, and related services have fluctuated with market cycles, there has been no sustained long-term decline. That resilience underpins one of the report’s key arguments: this is a sector in transition, not retreat. Traditional energy employers are expected to remain major players even as the low-emissions side of the industry matures.
Geographically, the pressure will be felt most acutely in the West. Alberta remains the country’s dominant hub for oil and gas employment, with Saskatchewan and British Columbia also carrying significant workforces tied to resource development. However, the report offers a notable signal for Atlantic Canada, where wind energy, hydrogen, and biofuel projects are beginning to take shape. While the region’s energy workforce is considerably smaller, new project developments could create meaningful opportunities and meaningful hiring challenges in the years ahead.
The bottom line, according to the report, is that Canada has a narrow window to get ahead of these changes. The workers who will retire over the next decade are currently on the job, taking institutional knowledge with them when they leave. Replacing that experience while simultaneously building capacity in technologies that barely existed a generation ago is a challenge that will require foresight, investment, and a coordinated national approach to workforce development.
