How will carbon pricing affect employment?

Carbon pricing is expected to have a minimal impact on jobs and employment

Research suggests that carbon pricing does not adversely affect overall employment.
Carbon pricing policies do, however, change the types of jobs in the economy. Over time, carbon pricing encourages more jobs in low-carbon industries, offsetting job losses in carbon-intensive industries.
Research on the carbon tax in British Columbia, for example, shows both effects: It suggests that the tax may have caused a small net increase in employment, due to gains in low-carbon industries.
Governments can help ensure that jobs do not shift to jurisdictions with weaker climate policy by providing vulnerable sectors (i.e., those that are emissions-intensive and trade-exposed) with targeted and temporary support. The federal government’s output-based carbon pricing approach is one such example.

The revenue from carbon taxes need not be a tax grab.
Governments can use carbon pricing revenues to create specific programs to transition and retrain workers moving from emissions-intensive sectors. Alberta’s Coal Workforce Transition Program, for example, provides financial help to workers looking to find new jobs, retire, relocate, or retrain.
Other types of revenue recycling, such as cutting corporate income taxes, can help indirectly (e.g., by encouraging investment, which can lead to greater employment).