Society
CEGE Indicators Platform
This page combines data from the following indicators:
Overview
- Society is built on our energy system. Canadians need to do their part in order to achieve a sustainable and inclusive net-zero transition.
- At home and at work, individual Canadians must take responsibility for their actions, minimizing waste in their daily lives, and supporting sustainable climate policy.
- To restore employment as an engine of prosperity in the energy system, investment in new capital projects must recover and expand.
Opportunity
Employment provides social and health benefits for communities and individuals.
Measurement: National employment levels
Quick Insights
- The recovery in output from oil and gas production since 2014–15 has not been matched by a recovery in employment. The energy system is still suffering from the persistent difference between pre- and post-2014 levels of employment. The broader question remains, however: Will new, different kinds of employment fill the gap as we transition?
- Toward 2030, the energy sector is expected to expand and transform more rapidly than in the previous decade. Investments made in that transition should be sensitive to a shortfall in employment in sectors and regions downstream of the clean energy transition.
How Does This Indicator Help Gauge a Better Future?
Relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 5—Gender equality
- 5.5 Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life
SDG 8—Decent work and economic growth
- 8.2 Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading, and innovation, including through a focus on higher-value added and labour-intensive sectors
- 8.5 By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value
- 8.6 By 2030, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education, or training
SDG 9—Industry, innovation, and infrastructure
- 9.2 Promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and, by 2030, significantly raise industry’s share of employment and gross domestic product, in line with national circumstances, and double its share in least developed countries
SDG 10—Reduced inequalities
- 10.2 By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, or economic or other status
- 10.4 Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality
Compensation
Fair compensation boosts workers’ morale, performance, and standard of living.
Measurement: Job compensation levels
Quick Insights
- Compensation fell as employment was impacted by the pandemic. Wages in the energy system have yet to recover at the same rate as the overall economy.
- New investments in energy projects will not necessarily create the same value for workers as in previous decades. Fewer workers are required to sustain output in the energy sector. Total compensation, for example, declined nearly 4 per cent from 2012 to 2019, compared with the 28 per cent growth among energy consumers over the same period.
How Does This Indicator Help Gauge a Better Future?
Relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 5—Gender equality
- 5.5 Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life
SDG 8—Decent work and economic growth
- 8.2 Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading, and innovation, including through a focus on higher-value added and labour-intensive sectors
- 8.5 By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value
- 8.6 By 2030, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education, or training
SDG 9—Industry, innovation, and infrastructure
- 9.2 Promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and, by 2030, significantly raise industry’s share of employment and gross domestic product, in line with national circumstances, and double its share in least developed countries
SDG 10—Reduced inequalities
- 10.2 By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, or economic or other status
- 10.4 Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality
Contribution to Society
Government revenue makes essential programs, services, and infrastructure for all Canadians possible.
Measurement: Total taxes paid, by industry
Quick Insights
- As investment in new projects declines, overall social contribution in the energy sector is skewing more toward taxes and royalties and away from income paid to employees.
- Employment has not recovered as output has increased. Capital projects have been slashed, and remaining workers have seen their labour productivity soar.
- If this change remains the norm moving forward, future commodity price cycles may deliver less economic and social upside to resource-rich provinces than previous price cycles did.
How Does This Indicator Help Gauge a Better Future?
Relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 5—Gender equality
- 5.1 End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
SDG 8—Decent work and economic growth
- 8.5 By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value
- 8.6 By 2030, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education, or training
SDG 10—Reduced inequalities
- 10.1 By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average
- 10.2 By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, or economic or other status
- 10.3 Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard
- 10.4 Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality
Affordability
Affordable basic needs are the foundation of a higher quality of life.
Measurement: Consumer price index (CPI)
Quick Insights
- As the war persists in Russia and Ukraine and uncertainty abounds about the impact of COVID-19 on global demand, 2022 is likely to see persistent price increases in a broad range of consumer goods, including automobiles, food, and housing.
- Governments are responding with fuel tax cuts and other consumption-based relief. This bout of inflation underscores just how essential price stability is to maintaining policies that support the energy transition.
- Unless net-zero energy is affordable, reliable, and non-emitting, the energy transition will be subject to continual opposition, stalls, and reversals.
How Does This Indicator Help Gauge a Better Future?
Relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 5—Gender equality
- 5.1 End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere
SDG 8—Decent work and economic growth
- 8.5 By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value
- 8.6 By 2030, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education, or training
SDG 10—Reduced inequalities
- 10.1 By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average
- 10.2 By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, or economic or other status
- 10.3 Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard
- 10.4 Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality
For a deeper look, read our issue briefing:
Measuring What Matters: An Energy-system Perspective on Sustainability