New data from IPSOS demonstrates Canadians are widely supportive of growth and development for Canada’s natural gas and oil sector.
A national poll of 4,038 Canadians conducted by IPSOS on behalf of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) found strong agreement that Canada’s natural gas and oil industry must be part of Canada’s post-pandemic economic recovery.
According to survey results, 44 per cent of Canadians see the country’s economic recovery as the top issue the federal government should focus on in the upcoming session of Parliament. Other priorities include health care, deficit reduction and a reduction in personal taxes.
The poll found 75 per cent of Canadians ranked Canada’s current economic condition as somewhat or very bad, but Canadians do not believe jobs should be sacrificed as part of the economic recovery — fifty-two per cent of respondents disagreed with losing jobs in the oil and natural gas sector in order to have a green recovery in Canada. Further, 70 per cent believe Canada can fight climate change while also growing the economy, 61 per cent agreed that jobs in the Canadian natural gas and oil industry are essential to Canada’s economy, and 59 per cent agreed that supporting Canada’s energy industry can help shrink the country’s debt load and get the economy back on track.
When asked specifically about a ‘green recovery,’ 64 per cent believed a green recovery must include Canadian natural gas and oil, compared to 13 per cent who felt Canada must completely shut down the industry in order to achieve a green recovery. In fact, 63 per cent said the industry should be encouraged to continue growing if it has a plan to fight climate change.
“CAPP is encouraged to see strong support from Canadians and urges the federal government to show the same level of support for the natural gas and oil industry,” says CAPP president and CEO Tim McMillan. “Government policy must be considered in the context of a strong economic recovery plan. It’s time to signal to the international community that Canada is a good place to do business and market our strengths to attract investment back to our industries. Bringing investment back to the industry will also support continued development of new technologies which improve our environmental performance, reduce emissions and further our climate goals.”
CAPP recently released a recovery vision document that provides a close examination of how Canada’s economic recovery can be driven by the natural gas and oil sector. A strong industry will create good jobs and economic growth, in turn generating revenues that will help Canada address issues of national debt, unemployment and social program funding while attracting capital investment vital to deploying advanced technologies to reduce emissions.
Strategic investments and federal government policy choices that coincide with the projected global rebound in energy demand could enable Canada’s natural gas and oil industry to drive a strong recovery, creating opportunity and building value by employing Canadians while shrinking the country’s deficit. The right policy environment would result in annual incremental impact through 2030 of $20 billion per year in investment, 120,000 additional permanent jobs, $45 billion increase in GDP, and $7.5 billion per year increase in government revenues.
