Electrical engineer, cybersecurity analyst, chemist… On the company website Li Cycle, more than forty positions are to be filled. It must be said that the start-up from Mississauga, near Toronto, has the wind in its sails: specializing in the recycling of lithium-ion batteries, it supplies the booming electric vehicle market.
This company of more than 200 employees, founded six years ago and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the summer of 2021, illustrates the major role of innovation in Canada. “Digital represents more than 10% of jobs in the country. And by 2025, 250,000 additional jobs should be created in this sector”, indicates Marc Lijour, vice-president of capacities and innovation at Information and Communications Technology Council (CTIC), a group of experts specializing in this subject. This Frenchman, who has been living in Ontario for more than twenty years, says he is impressed: “Since 2010, start-ups have been developing at high speed.”
Creative industry and clean technologies
But innovation in Canada is not limited to Web jobs. The country is one of the world leaders for visual effects, animation or video games. According to ICTC forecasts, this “interactive creativity” industry will create no less than… 100,000 new jobs over the next three years. The country’s 700 video game companies, including Ubisoft in Montreal and Electronic Arts in Vancouver, already generate some 3.6 billion dollars (2.7 billion euros) in turnover and employ 28,000 people, with an average salary of 75,000 dollars per year (55,500 euros), according to the Canadian Entertainment Software Agency.
“The country also stands out in the clean technology sector,” adds Pierre-Philippe Lortie, of the Canadian Council of Innovators, a representative body for high-tech companies. A specialization related to the country’s natural resources and its associated polluting industries. Thirteen companies, for example, are cited in the Global Cleantech 100, which lists the 100 most promising global companies in this area. Electrification of vehicles, nuclear fusion, CO2 capture, hydrogen… According to Clean Energy Canada, the sector will account for 639,000 jobs by 2030, i.e. 50% more than today, thanks in particular to a federal investment plan that aims to make the country carbon neutral by 2050.
“Cultural diversity, social harmony, excellent quality of life, academic richness and proximity to the gigantic American market are all elements that explain this liveliness,” notes Marc Lijour. With one nuance, however, according to Pierre-Philippe Lortie: “We still need to expand our pool of talent because the need for qualified labor is crying out.”