Young people at the threshold
Talent meets a first-experience barrier just as work and required skills are changing.
The forces shaping our three pathways
The ground
is shifting.
Climate pressure changes work. Technology changes how land is understood. Unequal access shapes who gets to participate. These forces do not arrive separately—and neither can the response.
Read the signalsEvidence becomes direction.Manitoba-rooted · Pan-Canadian in scope · Ghana + Kenya
01 · Climate conditions
The transition is already uneven.
Climate impacts are intensifying, while the resources to adapt remain unevenly distributed. Exposure matters. So do capacity, infrastructure and the freedom to choose what happens next.
01ExposureWhat changes around us
02CapacityWhat people can mobilize
03ChoiceWho gets to shape the response
Climate resilience is not only technical. It is also social, economic and institutional.
02 · Work is changing
Green work is growing.
Entry is not automatic.
Demand is moving toward environmental knowledge, digital capability and practical systems thinking. Growth alone does not guarantee that young people or communities can see, reach and shape these opportunities.
363,094Canadian jobs attributable to environmental and clean technology activity in 2024
2020100
2024122.4
Employment index · +22.4%
03 · Youth transitions
Being ready for work is not the same as being given a way in.
The transition from learning to work is neither simple nor evenly experienced. The question is not only whether young people have skills, but whether systems provide credible first steps.
12%
of Canadians aged 15–29 were not in employment, education or training in 2025.
04 · Earth intelligence
We can see more of the planet.
Who gets to use what we see?
Satellite Earth observation is becoming part of the infrastructure used to understand climate, land, water, public safety and community change. Canada’s strategy links that capability to open data and a diverse next-generation workforce.
Observe
Interpret
Decide
Data becomes useful when knowledge can travel from orbit to place—and back again.
05 · A just transition
New jobs are not enough.
Pathways must be reachable.
A just transition connects climate ambition with decent work, relevant skills, economic diversification and meaningful participation. It treats people as authors of change, not an afterthought.
1Mnew green jobs
1Mexisting jobs made greener
10Kyoung green entrepreneurs
Skills + access + agency = a transition people can enter
Source · UNEP · ILO · UNICEF Who feels it first
Global forces.
Unequal room to move.
The same shift can open a door for one person and narrow the horizon for another. Place, identity, income, infrastructure and institutional access shape what becomes possible.
Black and newcomer youth
Aggregate numbers can hide unequal transitions and overlooked capability.
Rural, remote and Northern communities
Distance from infrastructure changes which learning, data and work opportunities are reachable.
Communities with less room to absorb shocks
Climate impacts compound where finance, services and decision-making power are already constrained.
Evidence becomes direction
Three pathways.
One connected response.
We do not begin with a program and search for a problem. We begin with what is shifting, listen for what is needed and build the pathway from there.
LifeWorks
Transitions are human before they are technical.
In practiceOngoing: reflective mentorship and team learning with interns, supporting youth agency and community well-being.
Start with LifeWorks FutureWorks
Environmental data creates value when people can interpret and use it.
In practiceOngoing: green economy opportunity research, stakeholder mapping and work-integrated learning. Our team is exploring Earth observation and climate intelligence.
Start with FutureWorks GroundWorks
Adaptation becomes real through land, food and local stewardship.
In practiceIn development: neighbourhood heat, shade and cooling activities connecting resident knowledge, spatial data and practical climate resilience.
Start with GroundWorks Evidence base
Read the ground beneath the work.
Primary public sources informing this first edition. We will keep this page current as the evidence changes.
01
Statistics Canada
02Youth not in employment, education or training — annual indicator
The national NEET rate for people aged 15–29 was 12% in 2025.
Statistics Canada
03Youth not in employment, education or training: Recent trends
Examines differences by age, gender, racialized group and immigrant status.
Statistics Canada
04Environmental and Clean Technology Products Economic Account, 2024
Environmental and clean technology activity supported 363,094 Canadian jobs in 2024.
United Nations Environment Programme
05Adaptation Gap Report 2025
Rising climate impacts and the adaptation finance gap put lives, livelihoods and economies at risk.
UNEP · ILO · UNICEF
06Green Jobs for Youth Pact commitments
Targets green job creation, the greening of existing work and youth entrepreneurship by 2030.
UN Climate Change
07Advancing a just transition in climate policy
Highlights jobs, youth, inequality, economic diversification and participation in transition planning.
Canadian Space Agency
Canada’s Strategy for Satellite Earth Observation
Connects open Earth data, climate resilience and skills for a diverse next-generation workforce.
Evidence reviewed September 2026.
The signal is only the beginning