The Atlantica Centre for Energy recently released a discussion paper – Workforce Expansion & the Labour Supply Challenge. The purpose of the discussion paper is to promote wider and broader awareness of the need to expand the availability of skilled labour in order to construct the proposed major Energy Hub projects.

Atlantica Centre for Energy President Tim Curry explained, “With our diverse mix of energy related assets, our region is in the enviable and unique position to profoundly change its economy, its society and its future by serving as the Energy Hub of the International Northeast; however in order for our region to realize the full potential of the opportunity, we need to understand and urgently address the projected scarcity of skilled labour.”

The paper draws attention to the region’s diverse energy portfolio that includes thermal, hydroelectric and nuclear power, as well as the region’s refining facilities and Canada’s first to market LNG terminal. It also highlights the unprecedented opportunity for further investment in the region’s energy cluster with Irving Oil’s proposed second refinery “Eider Rock” and the potential for a second nuclear reactor at Point Lepreau.

The purpose of the paper is to provide the reader with a brief synopsis of the magnitude of the opportunity at hand while, at the same time to build awareness that unless project proponents, governments and the community begin to take meaningful action now, the labour supply challenge is potentially a crisis “on our doorstep” that could detrimentally affect the major Energy Hub projects.

To read the complete paper, click here.

To visit the Atlantic Centre for Energy website, go to www.atlanticaenergy.org