Canadian Solar Inc., an international solar module manufacturer, will be opening its first Canada-based plant in Guelph, Ontario. The new plant is expected to create 300 to 500 new green jobs within the province’s growing solar industry. This will be Canadian Solar’s first plant outside of China and is set to be one of the largest solar manufacturing facilities in North America.

New Jobs the Result of Ontario’s Commitment to Solar Energy

Canadian Solar credits both the Ontario government and the town of Guelph with helping to boost green job creation within the region. ”We chose Ontario and Guelph because of the province’s and city’s strong research and development, and the local and provincial government’s commitment to investing in a low carbon economy,” said Dr. Shawn Qu, President and CEO of Canadian Solar. He added, “It’s inspiring to see such a wide range of groups — government, business, investors and citizens come together to build a mutually beneficial solution. Through innovation, creativity and hard work, we are able to mitigate climate change and create needed employment.”

Trained Individuals Needed to Fill Green Jobs

Ontario Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Brad Duguid, continues to tout the province’s energy policy as a major catalyst for new green jobs. “The McGuinty government’s Green Energy Act is helping to create jobs and build manufacturing facilities across the province,” Duguid said. However, filling these new jobs will require a workforce of solar professionals who have completed the requisite green training. Programs like Ontario Solar Academy offer 5-day PV workshops expressly for this purpose, but with hundreds of new jobs from just the Canadian Solar plant alone, the province’s training infrastructure still has plenty of room to grow.

In fact, the province could become a victim of its own success in the absence of enough programs to produce the requisite green workforce. Ontario is creating many green jobs – as demonstrated by the new plant in Guelph – but the province may begin to experience severe labour shortages because it simply lacks the manpower to provide the technical, administrative, and service support necessary to satisfy growing demand for PV installations.

The Canadian Solar plant will require people knowledgeable about solar module construction, and those models will require people with solar PV installation training thereafter. Residents of Guelph, particularly, could benefit from solar PV training because of the city’s Community Energy Initiative and its economic development plan, Prosperity 2020. A main goal of both the energy and economic plans is to position Guelph as a leader in the green job sector. However, such positioning will require many more “green” hands than currently exist within the city and province.