Environment and Urban Sustainability

Career Opportunities in Environment & Urban Sustainability

The types of job opportunities in the environmental sector are diverse.  Eco Canada is the national organization mandated to develop resources designed to meet the professional needs of those organizations and individuals in the environment sector, to enhance job opportunities in the field, and to develop certification for environmental practitioners.  It has characterized environmental employment as including individuals who work in at least one of the sectors of the economy related to:

• Environmental protection,
• Conservation and preservation of natural resources, and
• Environmental sustainability.

You could become involved in any of a wide range of roles and activities:

• Research and development: analyzing, testing, monitoring, surveying, interpreting, publishing;
• Policy and legislation: developing, enforcing, planning, implementing, strategizing, coordinating;
• Communications and public awareness: partnering, communicating, liaising, presenting, supervising;
• Sustainability management: complying, implementing, interpreting, monitoring, measuring, managing, designing;
• Education: teaching, mentoring, training.

Graduates will have developed skills necessary for a career in the public sector, in advocacy or in other organizations that interact with the public sector, in private industry, in environmental consulting, and in education. 

In their report Getting Started in the Environmental Profession Eco Canada has identified the key skills being sought by employers in the environmental industry.  The program is well positioned to deliver training in the skill base identified by this national survey of employers.

Nationally, Eco Canada’s 2007 report Labour Market Transition: A Remedy for Labour Shortages in the Environment identifies the environmental sector is one of the five top industry sectors in the economy including 7,414 companies, many of which are small to medium-sized enterprises.  As part of this, the Ontario Environment Industry Association has characterized Ontario’s environment sector as involving 2,400 companies in a $7 billion market which generates $700 million in annual exports.  In addition, EcoCanada estimated that 10 percent of all organizations in Canada have one or more environmental employees.

Another Eco Canada report, Characteristics of Canadian Environmental Practitioners,reports a high degree of satisfaction among employees in the environmental sector with the variety of jobs and responsibilities a key part of that appeal among a high proportion of respondents.  Most individuals entering the job market found work quickly.

A degree in Environment and Urban Sustainability also provides a strong basis for students seeking a career in teaching.  The high degree of flexibility in the program permits you to readily assemble sufficient course credits allowing you to consider teaching subjects such as Environmental Studies, Science, Geography, Economics, English, History and/or Politics.

Academic advisors, career counsellors, and student life coordinators at the university, faculty and program levels provide help in planning your future.