Are green collar careers the jobs of the future?
Employment opportunities have traditionally been divided into two sectors: white and blue collar jobs. In recent years, a new sector of employment has emerged and is experiencing strong growth: green collar careers.
Green collar workers are employed in the environmental sector of the economy, in a diverse range of occupations and industries. Students seeking to establish careers in this field can acquire the necessary technical education and skills training at Saskatchewan Polytechnic.
Dr. Larry Rosia, president and CEO of Saskatchewan Polytechnic, says, “As the world seeks solutions to its environmental challenges, the demand for green collar workers – those who are employed in the environmental sector of the economy – is heating up. We continue to hear more and more from industry, as well as from students who want to study in this area.”
Rosia says that Saskatchewan Polytechnic has developed several new programs designed to meet the demand for skilled “green” workers.
“One of them is our Innovative Manufacturing diploma program. This program combines hands-on industrial training with academic studies, and prepares our graduates for management and leadership roles in the manufacturing industries. The graduates of this program will be well-trained for careers in the so-called green job space, such as manufacturing companies with an environmental focus,” says Rosia.
Students in this two-year cross-disciplined program receive skill-based and hands-on training. Each student also has the opportunity to participate in a twoweek work placement.
“Our work-integrated learning and applied research offers students practical hands-on experience that makes them much more employable,” says Rosia.
Applied research projects provide students with invaluable work experience, helping to solve real world problems. For example, some of the students in the Innovative Manufacturing program are researching ways to repurpose grain bags, by combining them with flax fibre, a largely under-utilized harvest byproduct.
Students in the Mechanical Engineering Technology Program had the chance to collaborate on the installation of one of the province’s first power generation co-operatives, the result of a partnership between Saskatoon Light and Power, the Saskatchewan Environmental Society Co-operative/Solar Co-op Ltd. and Saskatchewan Polytechnic. The Solar Photovoltaic Demonstration Site is part of the Landfill Gas Collection and Power Generation System, which is currently generating 1.5 per cent of the City’s annual energy requirement. “With this project, our students come away with an enhanced and practical understanding of the operational character-
istics of solar power,” says Rosia.
Several students enrolled in the Natural Resource Technology program had the opportunity to use drones in their applied research project. The Shoreline Health Assessments project utilized drones to carry out environmental assessments of hard-to-access shorelines in the province.
A new program that will be introduced in the fall of 2018 will also have a green focus, says Rosia. “Our Bachelor of Construction Management degree program is unique in Saskatchewan. This program was built by industry for industry. It was developed as a result of the direct interaction that we have with industry and in response to their specific needs. Graduates of this program will gain leadership skills that can be applied to many segments of the construction industry, including sustainable or green building practices. It’s an important issue in the construction industry today.”
In fact, a report published by the Columbia Institute in 2017 predicts that nearly four million non-residential construction jobs will be created in Canada by 2050 if the country continues to shift towards a net zero-emissions economy, in keeping with the commitments cited in the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Surveys taken six months after graduation reveal that 92 per cent of Saskatchewan Polytechnic graduates were employed. “Along with that, 97 per cent of our employers say they would hire another Saskatchewan Polytechnic graduate again. I think that speaks highly of the skills that they’re leaving our organization with,” says Rosia.
Saskatchewan Polytechnic is aware that change is the one constant in today’s workforce. “There always was change, but change is coming now at a rate we’ve never experienced before. That’s why our close ties to industry are so important. All of our programs have industry advisory committees – groups of individuals who meet with us regularly to advise on our curriculum. By listening to industry we are able to make sure that we deliver programming that is responsive to industry’s needs,” says Rosia.
“Our ability to be nimble, agile and responsive to industry’s needs is one of our key competitive advantages, and frankly, it’s why our students do so well when they graduate from our programs.”