TAHAN: On Labour Day, don't forget who builds Canada's prosperity

Every Labour Day, Canadians celebrate work by taking some time off.

But we should also ask a harder question: where are the jobs that still reward skill, productivity, and responsibility with genuinely strong wages?

One answer is hiding in plain sight.

Canada’s energy sector is often discussed in the abstract language of capital markets and megaprojects: billions invested, pipelines completed, export terminals built, production expanded. But behind every one of those numbers are working people.

A billion dollars of capital spending becomes engineering work, construction contracts, equipment purchases, skilled trades, maintenance jobs, operations roles, supplier revenue and, ultimately, thousands of paycheques. Businesses don't do business, aren't investing billions in Canada, without hiring Canadians.

That is the part of the energy story we should remember on Labour Day. In British Columbia, oil-and-gas engineering construction rose from less than $5 billion in 2016 to $21.1 billion at its peak in 2023, remaining at $15.6 billion in 2024. That spending included pipelines, drilling, production facilities and the infrastructure needed to move Canadian energy to market.

Those are large numbers. But the more important question is what they became. They became work. They became jobs for welders, pipefitters, electricians, heavy-equipment operators, engineers, mechanics, technicians, plant operators, truck drivers, construction supervisors and the many businesses that support them. And these are not marginal jobs.

According to economist Philip Cross, total employment in BC’s oil-and-gas industry more than tripled from 3,604 workers in 2001 to 11,328 by April 2026. Average weekly earnings in the sector reached roughly $2,755 — more than twice the provincial average cited in his report. Those wages matter. A high-paying job means a family can pay a mortgage, save for retirement, support local businesses and absorb the rising cost of living. It also means stronger tax revenues for the public services Canadians depend on.

This is why capital investment should not be treated as something separate from labour. Investment creates demand for labour. Productive workers make investment worthwhile. Workers need investment, and investors need workers. The relationship is not adversarial. It is complementary. One of the common criticisms of major energy projects is that construction jobs are temporary.

That is true, but incomplete. Large projects do create intense periods of construction employment. Yet the infrastructure built during those periods continues to support work after construction ends. A pipeline must be operated and maintained. A natural-gas field requires drilling, processing and servicing. An LNG terminal needs technicians, operators and maintenance crews. Upstream producers require engineers, tradespeople and suppliers year after year.

Cross’s report makes this distinction clearly: the first economic phase is the burst of activity involved in building infrastructure, while the second is the longer-term output, exports and income that follow once the assets are operating. That second phase matters because productive infrastructure can support jobs for decades. And productivity is the key word.

Canada cannot build a high-wage economy simply by wishing wages higher. High wages are sustainable when workers are employed in industries that generate substantial value. Employers can only afford to pay high wages to workers, if the workers are productive, if the workers generate huge value. Thankfully, the energy sector is exactly one of those sectors where workers have become increasingly productive, thanks largely to capital investment.

Energy and natural resources are highly capital-intensive, technologically sophisticated sectors. They rely on expensive machinery, complex engineering, advanced safety systems and workers with specialized skills. That combination helps explain why compensation is so strong. A productive worker using advanced equipment in a globally competitive industry can generate enough value to support a high wage.

That is the kind of economic model Canada should want more of. Natural resource harvesting, and export is not a low skill, low tech part of the economy. It's the highest skill, highest tech, highest capital intensive part of the Canadian economy, and its high wages prove it. 

The benefits also do not stop at the job site. A worker’s paycheque becomes household spending. It supports restaurants, homebuilders, auto dealers, childcare providers, retailers and small businesses. It contributes to provincial and federal tax revenues. It helps sustain communities. That is how investment in one sector spreads through a broader economy.

On Labour Day, we should resist the habit of discussing workers and industry as though they are on opposite sides of the table. Strong labour markets require strong industries. If Canada wants more skilled trades, more apprenticeships, higher productivity and better-paying careers, then it also needs the investment that creates those opportunities. That does not mean every project should be approved automatically.

It does mean we should be honest about what is at stake when major investment is delayed, cancelled or driven elsewhere. We are not merely losing capital. We are also losing careers, training opportunities, supplier contracts, household income and tax revenue.

Labour Day should be about celebrating the dignity of work. But it should also be about creating an economy where skilled work is rewarded. Canada already has industries capable of doing that. Energy is one of them. If we want more high-paying jobs, stronger productivity and more opportunities for skilled workers, then we should build an economy where those skills can create value.

The best way to honour Canadian workers is not only to thank them once a year. It is to build an economy that rewards their skills with family supporting wages. 

Siavash Tahan is a Greater Vancouver-based policy, business, and economics researcher and executive.