The oil and gas industry has played a crucial part in Alberta’s political structure for decades. Alberta contains about 97 percent of all oil stores in Canada, which ranks third globally for oil and gas exports.
Over 20 percent of the GDP and 5.9 percent of all employment in Alberta is tied to the oil and gas industry, which employs over 35,000 people.
However, many factors — including increasing electrification, reduction in renewable energy costs and climate policy — are aligning to annihilate Alberta’s traditional fossil-fuel focused energy industry. This raises a real concern for oil and gas workers’ jobs in the near future.