Research
Environmental Job Market Trends
Job Posting Analysis: Data in real time
At ECO Canada, we continuously look for ways to deepen our understanding of the environmental job market and to improve the value of our reporting. Our Job Posting Analysis (JPA) interactive dashboard provides a snapshot of online recruitment activity levels and trends for Canadian environmental roles. We update our platform each quarter to share the most recent data, trends and insights by region, occupation, industry and environmental specialization.
2023 environmental job postings trends in review: the ebbs and flows of Canada’s environmental job market
Of the 2,038,910 online job postings advertised in 2023, 248,230 (12.2%) were considered environmental jobs. A look into the distribution of environmental job postings in 2023 shows that Q1 (January-March) had the highest number at 67,210 advertisements.
A year-on-year comparison shows an increase in environmental job ads from 2022 to 2023 by 4,228 (2% increase). A further look into 2023 shows much of the contribution to this increase occurred in Q1 (January-March) with 67,210 environmental job openings and Q3 (July-September) with 63,790 environmental job openings.
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Environmental job openings continue to grow across Canadian provinces and territories in 2023.
In 2023, the highest number of environmental job postings continued to be found in Canada’s four largest provinces – Ontario (75,070), British Columbia (55,930), Quebec (47,170), Alberta (33,740). These provinces accounted for 85% of Canada’s job postings.
A look at the growth in environmental job ads from 2022 to 2023 shows increases in Alberta by 13%, Saskatchewan by 27%, and Manitoba by 23%. The Territories experienced varying increases in environmental job ads from 2022 to 2023, with the highest increase in Northwest Territories (13%).
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Civil engineers and professional, scientific, and technical services accounted for the highest number of environmental job postings in 2023
The occupation with the highest number of job postings in 2023 was civil engineering, with 13,900 job postings. The biologists and related scientists’ occupation saw the most considerable growth in the number of environmental job advertisements, with an increase of 1,490 postings from 2022 to 2023. On the other hand, geological and mineral technologists and technicians saw the most significant decrease in job postings from 2022, with 3,650 fewer job postings.
The top industry for environmental job postings from 2022 to 2023 was professional, scientific, and technical services, with 56,640 environmental job ads in 2023. However, this industry also saw a significant decrease in environmental job postings since 2022, with 24% fewer advertisements in 2023 (17,420 decrease).
Educational services saw the next highest number of environmental job postings in 2023, with 28,680 postings, an increase of 6,960 from 2022 (24% increase).
Sustainability specializations maintain their position as the leading specialization in demand from 2022 to 2023
The sustainability specialization saw the most significant number of environmental job postings in 2023 (146,505) and environmental job ads from 2022 (9% increase, amounting to 12,530 postings). Environmental specializations showing an upward trend in job postings from 2022 to 2023 include energy, fisheries & wildlife management, natural resource management, communications & public awareness, and policy & legislation.
ECO Canada’s environmental job posting analysis is powered by TalentNeuron.
The opinions and interpretations in this publication are ECO Canada’s and do not necessarily reflect those held by the Government of Canada.
Our Methodology
With at least 75% of job vacancies in Canada advertised on the web, online job posting data have emerged as a useful indicator of hiring needs and trends. Millions of jobs are posted online daily by employers in Canada, providing an opportunity for researchers to study the state of the job market in real time.
ECO Canada gathers and analyzes trends within the green economy to provide up-to-date, relevant, and credible information and insights on Canada’s environmental workforce. One approach to guide decision making within organizations and individuals is to analyze the number of environmental jobs advertised online. Our Job Posting Analysis (JPA) presents a snapshot of online recruitment activity and trends for Canadian environmental workers. Data and insights include numbers of environmental online job ads by region, occupation and environmental specialization, and the proportion of all online job ads that represent environmental work across the country over time.
Canada’s environmental workforce is spread throughout industries and occupations. Because of this, it is not possible to directly gather data on the environmental workers using standard employment data classifications, such as the National Occupational Classification (NOC) system. ECO Canada has developed an approach to analyze environmental job vacancies in Canada to address this unique challenge.
Learn more about our methodology
Labour Market Information Publications
Job Posting Analysis reports inform environmental job opportunities in Canada, the types of jobs being posted, and the occupations and skills that are in the greatest demand. With this information, our stakeholders can identify trends, gaps and opportunities for environmental workers and support the development and maintenance of a qualified and productive workforce.
- Environmental Jobs and Influence on Industry (2020)
- Environmental Job Market Trends (2018)
- Environmental Jobs Within Industries (2018)
- Environmental Jobs Market Trends (mid-2018)
- Environmental Job Market Trends (2014-2017)
- Environmental Job Posting Trends (2013-2016)
Though informative on its own, this JPA report focuses on only one part of ECO Canada’s approach to understanding the job market for environmental workers. We also publish labour demand and labour supply outlook reports to estimate of the size of Canada’s environmental workforce by region and occupation, based in part on the EnviroShare derived from JPA.
- Updated: Environmental Labour Demand Outlook to 2025 (2021)
- Environmental Labour Demand Outlook (2020)
- Environmental Labour Supply Outlook (2020)
- Profile of Canadian Environmental Employment (2017)
Our complete report collection is available at eco.ca/labour-market-research/our-reports/.
Career Resources
ECO Canada gathers and analyzes skills and labour market trends within the environmental workforce to provide up-to-date, relevant data and insights for policy, business and educational purposes. Our reports support our stakeholders in four key areas: (1) employers—plan and attract qualified candidates, (2) individuals—prepare for and build their environmental careers, (3) governments—develop programs and update policies, (4) educators and trainers—adapt their offerings to prepare the workforce that is and will be in demand.
Environmental employment in Canada is projected to grow by 8.1% from 2019 to 2029. This will result in a total of 50,100 new jobs. In addition to these new opportunities, an estimated 183,400 employees will gradually retire within the next decade. With nearly 30% of the current environmental workforce expected to vacate their mostly mid to senior-level roles, career progression opportunities for current and future workers will be created.
Our organization responds to labour market needs through the development of human resource tools for employers, the accreditation of post-secondary environmental programs, the delivery of employment programs for students and graduates, and the certification and training of environmental professionals.
Discover key resources ECO Canada has developed to support the sustainability of Canada’s environmental workforce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Online job postings provide timely, detailed estimates of the number and distribution of job vacancies. Millions of jobs are posted online by employers in Canada. Statistics Canada’s Job Vacancy and Wage Survey data suggest at least 75% of all job vacancies are posted online every quarter. ECO Canada publishes Job Posting Analysis (JPA) reports to describe in part, the state of Canada’s environmental labour market within a given period and over time.
1) What does online job posting data tell us about the labour market?
Online job postings provide timely, detailed estimates of the number and distribution of job vacancies. Millions of jobs are posted online by employers in Canada. Statistics Canada’s Job Vacancy and Wage Survey data suggest at least 75% of all job vacancies are posted online every quarter. ECO Canada publishes Job Posting Analysis (JPA) reports to describe the state of Canada’s environmental labour market within a given period and over time.
2) How representative are online job postings of the Canadian environmental labour market?
Online job postings provide unique insights on employment opportunities and skills requirements sought by employers. However, some caution is required when interpreting job posting data. Online job postings are often skewed towards professional and service sector occupations and may underrepresent trades and other manual labour professions.
3) What will I learn from ECO Canada’s JPA reports?
The JPA report is a resource for those interested in understanding environmental job opportunities in Canada, the types of jobs being posted, and the occupations and skills that are in the greatest demand. With this information, our stakeholders can identify trends, gaps and opportunities for environmental workers and support the development and maintenance of a qualified and productive workforce. ECO Canada aims to help government, academia, environmental employers and workers benchmark and analyse trends in the environmental job market and assess current and future workforce needs.
4) How often is the JPA report updated?
ECO Canada updates job posting data every four months (February, April, July and October), or on a quarterly basis, and reflect the environmental ads for the previous period. Information presented in the report spotlights the distribution of job vacancies across Canada and highlights national and regional trends for industries, occupations and specializations that compose the environmental workforce.
5) Where does job posting data come from?
Our research uses a dataset compiled by Gartner TalentNeuron, which includes job ads from sources such as Monster.ca, the Canada Job Bank, Emploi-Québec, WorkBC, BCJobs.ca, JobServe, ECO Job Board, as well as the job boards of individual companies.
The TalentNeuron dataset includes information such as the full text of the job description (in French or English), job type (full-time versus part-time), location, level of desired education, and additional skills or certifications required for the position. TalentNeuron analyzes posting data to identify unique positions by filtering out duplications across multiple sites. If key components of information are missing, these data were not included in the analysis.
6) What is an environmental worker?
ECO Canada describes an environmental worker as those employed within environmental goods and services companies regardless of the occupation and those with specialized environmental competencies regardless of the industry employer.
7) What is NOC?
The National Occupational Classification (NOC) is Canada’s standard for describing occupations. Both core environmental and environmental goods and services sector employment are spread across industries and occupations and do not align precisely with traditional taxonomies such as NOC. ECO Canada maps environmental job ads to each NOC using the information provided by employers for vacancies such as job title, main duties and educational requirements. With this approach, ECO Canada can analyze the demand and supply for the workforce, which would otherwise be unavailable.
8) What is an EnviroShare?
ECO Canada coined the term EnviroShare to present the proportion of environmental job ads as a percentage of total online job ads. The EnviroShare method accounts for shifts in occupational and geographical distribution to permit a more granular approach to analyzing job vacancies in Canada.
While an occupation might rank high in the number of environmental job ads, its EnviroShare might be higher or lower compared to the national average. Determining the number of online job ads that are classified as environmental is one measure of the JPA. Analyzing the occupations by their EnviroShare presents a different perspective.
9) What is NAICS?
The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is Canada’s standard for categorizing industries. This system has been developed and adopted by Canada, Mexico and the United States, to allow for comparison among the three nations. Environmental employment is spread across industries and does not align precisely with traditional taxonomies such as NAICS. ECO Canada maps environmental job ads to each NAICS using the information provided by employers in their job postings.
10) What is a Specialization?
ECO Canada’s sub-sector model segments the workforce into areas related to protecting, managing and sustaining the environment. Environmental employment involves the performance of activities that seek to manage sustainable use of resources, assess or minimize environmental impacts, and maintain or restore ecological integrity of the environment. These activities relate to planning, implementing and managing environmental initiatives, programs, products or services, and developing and disseminating environmental knowledge and awareness. In practice, most environmental professionals specialize within more than one of the 14 diverse sub-sectors. ECO Canada develops National Occupational Standards for each of these environmental specializations and has defined 332 technical competencies to guide career development.
