This post examines how climate change is reshaping work and livelihoods across Canada, drawing on findings from the four-year research project Work-Life in Canada. It highlights real-life impacts on Indigenous artisans, coastal fishers, and whole communities — and argues for policy responses that link climate action with employment and cultural preservation.
As someone with thirty years working at the intersection of environment, labour and community resilience, I reflect on what these stories mean for a just, sustainable future.
Research that connects environment, work and identity
The Work-Life in Canada project documented experiences of more than 100 people in seven provinces, revealing a pattern: environmental change is not only an economic threat but one that erodes culture, skills and intergenerational knowledge.
These are not isolated losses of jobs; they are losses of ways of life that bind people to place and to one another.
Two cases stand out as emblematic of broader trends: a wildfire that wiped out an Indigenous craft and cultural hub in Saskatchewan, and the collapse of a centuries-old weir fishery on Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick.
Both examples make clear how climate-driven ecological change and industrial pressures together dismantle livelihoods and social fabric.
Stories from Lac La Ronge and Grand Manan Island
At Lac La Ronge, Saskatchewan, wildfires consumed Robertson Trading, a long-standing community hub for Indigenous art and cultural exchange.
For Cree artisans such as Cathy and Julia Clinton, the loss went far beyond income: irreplaceable artworks, heritage items and the social ties that sustained craft practices were destroyed.
Wildfires — now more frequent and intense — are forcing repeated evacuations, rupturing the continuity that allows skills and stories to pass between generations.
On Grand Manan Island, warming ocean temperatures and industrial overfishing have effectively collapsed the weir fishing tradition.
Fisher Jeff Foster watched the local herring and mackerel stocks that supported his family’s weir fishery disappear, prompting his sons to abandon the trade.
The family adapted by moving into lobster fishing, a switch made possible because lobsters themselves are moving north as waters warm — a precarious, climate-driven shift rather than a sustainable choice.
How climate change dismantles intergenerational connections
These narratives illustrate a common dynamic: climate change does not just alter resource availability — it severs the transmission of knowledge, the routines of work, and the cultural infrastructures that give communities meaning.
When ancestral workplaces disappear, so do the rituals and mentorships that link young people to elders and to local economies.
Policy priorities for a just transition
From decades of observing environmental and labour transitions, I recommend integrated approaches that combine climate mitigation, ecological stewardship and employment planning:
Climate change is already remaking work across Canada. Our responses must be as interconnected as the systems we are trying to preserve.
This means hearing stories from communities like Lac La Ronge and Grand Manan. It also means funding their solutions and reframing employment policy as an essential component of climate justice.
Here is the source article for this story: Climate change is profoundly affecting livelihoods across Canada