Canada’s economy, along with related exchange traded fund (ETF), may be energized by harnessing the sun to provide for a renewable source of energy.

In Ontario, the Green Energy and Green Economy Act, similar to Germany’s successful feed-in tariff approach, is going to open the gates for the clean energy sector in the province, write Greg Boutin and Jon Worren for Renewable Energy World. The bill is expected to pass any6 day now. The only criticism is that the bill does not look at long-term targets for renewable energy.

One big plus of the act is its potential to create 90,000 “green” jobs, a report recently concluded. About $47 billion will be spent over 10 years, reports Ryan Bolton for the Daily Commercial News. This could lead to jobs for construction workers, engineers and sheet metal workers. Canada’s economy could use the push – it shrank 7.1% in the first quarter.

Canada still has a long way before it can match the energy production of Germany. Canada’s installed capacity is less than 50 megawatts, while Germany has more than 5000 megawatts.

There is a 100 megawatt estimate for 2010 in which 20% will come from solar parks, 40% from commercial rooftop systems and 40% from residential and smaller systems.

The government will also launch an Emerging Technologies Fund on July 1, 2009. The fund will match investments from private sources in technology companies. Cleantech companies have already started to announce new installations in Ontario.

• iShares MSCI Canada Index (EWC): up 25.8% year-to-date

Max Chen contributed to this article.

Tags: Alternative Energy, Canada, Energy, EWC, Global ETFs, Green ETFs