The fastest growing industries for newcomers to Canada

Canada is well-known for having a strong and stable economy.  Following the epidemic, the country saw a remarkable resurgence in various sectors, several of which are experiencing rapid growth.

The country's high immigration targets are one of the primary causes of Canada's continuing economic success.  According to the Immigration Levels Plan 2023-  2025, Canada will welcome 500,000 immigrants each year by the end of 2025.

Almost 25% of Canada's population of approximately 39,000,000 individuals identify as immigrants. Newcomers often arrive in Canada well-prepared to fill labor-force vacancies caused by a significant number of retirements or a lack of eligible candidates.

Among employment sectors, some stand out as the fastest growing with the most in-demand skills.

Healthcare

Canadians are living longer lives and need more medical care for longer periods of time than prior generations. Because of the rising demand, Canadian provinces are trying hard to attract foreign healthcare workers.

Currently, immigrants make up more than 35% of Canada's physicians, 23% of registered nurses, and 39% of dentists. According to Statistics Canada's most recent job vacancy data, the healthcare industry has the most open positions of any sector, with 143,800 available as of February 2023.

During the pandemic, the nursing profession was particularly heavily struck, with many nurses needing extended leave or quitting entirely.

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has taken steps to make it simpler for healthcare workers to become permanent residents, including reducing some of the restrictions for physicians who were previously deemed self-employed. Self-employed workers are often ineligible for Express Entry.

How to immigrate as a healthcare worker to Canada?

Through the Express Entry programme, a lot of healthcare workers enter Canada. The Federal Skilled Worker Programme, the Canadian Experience Class, or the Federal Skilled Trades Programme all target high-skilled applicants.  

Additionally, the majority of provinces have streams under the Provincial Nominee Programme (PNP) for healthcare professionals because healthcare is a provincial responsibility. For instance, the Alberta Express Entry Stream just added the Dedicated Healthcare Pathway.  

Other provinces hold PNP draws frequently with a focus on candidates in the healthcare industry. This kind of draw occurs almost weekly in British Columbia, and 2,349 healthcare professionals were recently invited to apply through Ontario's Human Capital Priorities stream.

Additionally, there are two government pilot programmes for those who look after youngsters and seniors. The government earlier this year announced a reduction in the amount of Canadian work experience needed for a carer to be eligible for permanent residency under these programmes, from 24 to 12 months.

Agriculture

The Canadian agriculture industry employs over 243,000 people and has a job vacancy rate of over 14,000 at the moment.  

According to a recent research by the Royal Bank of Canada, 40% of Canadian farm proprietors will retire by 2033. According to the report, Canada needs welcome 30,000 permanent immigrants over the course of the next ten years in order to start their own farms and greenhouses or take over those that already exist in order to address a short-term skills shortage.

How to immigrate to Canada with an agricultural occupation

To fill some of these positions, IRCC recently announced that it is extending the Agri-Food Pilot Program and removing occupational caps. Eligible occupations include:

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

Like healthcare workers, there are also dedicated streams under some PNPs for agriculture workers.

Tech
 

One of the primary components of the federal budget 2023 was a $20 billion investment to promote the construction of large clean energy and clean growth infrastructure projects. This investment is projected to stimulate demand in the technology sector.

It also mentions that many jobs in the clean technology manufacturing sector do not require a university degree and that the average worker remuneration in this area in 2021 will be $90,252, which is significantly more than Canada's overall average of $69,311.