Investing in green jobs will help tariff-proof Ontario

April 24, 2025

THUNDER BAY — Ontario Greens Leader Mike Schreiner released the following statement in response to this morning’s Financial Accountability Office (FAO) report on the 2024 labour market:

“I’m deeply concerned with this morning’s report from the Financial Accountability Office that shows Ontario’s unemployment rate at the highest rate in over a decade, and the staggering youth unemployment rate of 15.7% (both excluding pandemic years).

I just spent the past two days at the NOMA conference in Thunder Bay, meeting with local industry and municipal leaders. It’s clear that in the North – as well as across Ontario – there is a huge opportunity to tariff-proof Ontario by investing in good, green jobs and supporting a made-in-Ontario clean energy and mining-to-manufacturing strategy.

We can support youth by investing in the next generation, ready to lead Ontario’s clean energy future. It’s a huge competitive advantage that Doug Ford is turning a blind eye to for the sake of fossil fuels, keeping us reliant on American fracked gas.

I’m concerned that the Ford government’s approach of investing in the dirty industries of the past instead of the clean industries of the future, will make us more vulnerable to the impact of tariffs, and further worsen the job loss trends of 2024.

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