The growing Job market for newcomers in Canada

Canada is known for having a stable and strong economy. After the pandemic, the country has seen a strong rebound in several sectors of which many are seeing rapid growth. This continued economic growth is attributed to the country’s high immigration targets.

The Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025 shows that Canada will admit 500,000 immigrants a year by the end of 2025. Out of Canada’s population of over 39,000,000 people, almost 25% identify as immigrants. Most newcomers typically arrive in Canada prepared to fill gaps in the national labour force as a result of a large number of retirements or a lack of qualified candidates.

Among employment sectors, some stand out as the fastest growing and those with the most in-demand skills. As a newcomer, here are some of the rapidly growing industries that you can consider when looking for employment.

Healthcare Sector

The current generation of Canadians are living longer and thus require more medical care for a longer period than in previous generations. To cater for the increased demand has made Canada’s provinces to go extra mile to attract healthcare workers from abroad. Out of the current number of health workers in Canada, over 35% of physicians, 23% of registered nurses and 39% of dentists are immigrants.

According to Statistics from Canada data on the latest job vacancy, the number of job vacancies in the healthcare industry is the highest across all sectors at 143,800 vacant positions as of February 2023. The nursing sector was particularly hard hit during the pandemic which caused many nurses to require extended leave or to quit the profession altogether.

Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has been working hard to make it easier for healthcare workers to become permanent residents such as removing some of the barriers for physicians who were previously considered to be self-employed. According to IRCC, self-employed occupations are not eligible for Express Entry.

Ways to Immigrate to Canada as a Healthcare Worker

The express Entry program is mainly used by many healthcare workers to arrive in Canada. The Express Entry programs target high-skilled candidates in the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Canadian Experience Class, or the Federal Skilled Trades Program.

Additionally, healthcare is a provincial responsibility, hence most provinces have streams for healthcare workers under the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). For example, Alberta recently created the Dedicated Healthcare Pathway under the Alberta Express Entry Stream
Other provinces regularly hold PNP draws targeting candidates in healthcare occupations. British Columbia does this type of draw nearly every week and Ontario recently invited 2,349 healthcare candidates through its Human Capital Priorities stream.

There are also two federal pilot programs for caregivers for seniors and children. Earlier this year the government announced that the work experience in Canada required for a caregiver to qualify for permanent residence through these programs was reduced from 24 to 12 months.

Agriculture Sector

The agriculture sector in Canada employs over 243,000 Canadians and currently has a job vacancy rate of more than 14,000. A recent report by the Royal Bank of Canada shows that by 2033, around 40% of Canadian farm operators will retire. Further, the report says that to offset a short-term skills crisis, Canada must accept 30,000 permanent immigrants over the next 10 years to establish their own farms and greenhouses or take over existing ones.

Ways to Immigrate to Canada with an Agricultural Occupation

To fill some of the positions in the agriculture sector, IRCC recently announced that it is extending the Agri-Food Pilot Program and removing occupational caps. Some of eligible occupations are:

• General farm workers
• Farm supervisors and specialized livestock workers
• Food processing labourers
• Retail butchers
• Industrial butchers
• Harvesting labourers

Similarly to healthcare workers, there are also dedicated streams under some PNPs for agriculture workers as well.

Tech Sector

The federal budget 2023 aims at investing $20 billion to support the building of major clean electricity and clean growth infrastructure projects. This investment is likely to lead to increased demand in the tech sector.

The report also notes that many of the careers in the clean technology manufacturing sector do not require a university degree, and the average worker compensation in this sector in 2021 was $90,252—well above Canada’s economy-wide average of $69,311.

The rapid growth of the AI sector has also played a part in Canada’s demand for tech workers. Invest in Canada, a government website designed to attract investment in Canada’s tech industry, reported that Canada has 1,032 AI and machine learning companies. In addition, the Global AI Index shows that Canada ranks 4th for its global competitiveness in AI implementation, innovation, and investment.

Ways to Immigrate to Canada with a Tech Occupation

To bring in more tech workers, IRCC offers programs like the Global Talent Stream. This program is part of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program and is designed to encourage the growth of Canada’s tech industry. The program goal is to achieve a processing standard of two weeks once the final application is submitted by the potential employee.

There are also targeted draws through the Provincial Nominee Program. Some examples of provincial tech streams are:

• The BC Tech Stream,
• OINP Tech Draw
• Saskatchewan Tech Talent Pathway
• The Alberta Accelerated Tech Pathway.