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From tech to health care, Canada offers plenty of jobs for newcomers—and many of them are included in national and provincial express entry immigration programs.
Canada is planning to welcome nearly 1.5 million immigrants in the next three years. If you’re starting a new life here, one of the first steps is to find a source of income. Where should you look?
To save you time on research, MoneySense put together a list of fast-growing industries and jobs across Canada. The list is based on industry trends and expert advice, sourced from staffing agencies, head-hunters, government policies and Canada’s Job Bank. We’ll also show how to research the job market and where to find free professional help.
For all five industries below, you can find jobs by location using the search tool for newcomers in Canada’s Job Bank.
Canada’s information technology industry (IT) has long suffered from a lack of skilled staff—a challenge made worse by the pandemic. The federal government has launched programs to attract tech talent from abroad, including Express Entry, Start-up Visas and the Global Skills Strategy. The province of Alberta also has an accelerated entry pathway for tech workers. (See resource box below for links.)
Examples of in-demand jobs:
Training and credentials: As with any industry, some newcomers may need additional training in Canada to qualify for sought-after jobs. For IT jobs, many colleges, universities and training institutions offer courses and programs, ranging in cost from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. Most jobs in this industry aren’t regulated, meaning you don’t need a license or an academic degree, but some may require certification, including vendor-specific credentials. You can take tech courses from the vendors or from educational institutions.
Industry hot spots: You’ll find tech and IT jobs at companies of all sizes, both inside and outside of the tech industry. Canada has several tech hotspots, including the Toronto-Waterloo Corridor, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City and Halifax. Tech workers are also in high demand in-house in other industries, including manufacturing, health care, banking and finance, and retail.
Salary range: The salary range in this industry is wide. For example, a help-desk technician can earn $47,000 to $69,000, while executives, such as a chief technology officer, earn upward of $185,000. Pay levels can vary by location. A software developer in Toronto or Vancouver can earn about $80,000 to $136,000; the same job in Regina, Saskatchewan, pays about $74,000 to $127,000.
The demand for health care workers has never been higher. The Canadian government has included health care workers in its first-ever category-based priority jobs process, announced in May 2023. The following month, it announced a new immigration stream for health care workers—the first 2,000 invitations to apply were sent out last year. Some provinces—including British Columbia, Alberta and Nova Scotia—have express entry or dedicated pathways for newcomers to get health care jobs quickly. Nova Scotia’s program is a pilot project. (See resource box below for links.)
In-demand jobs: Health care jobs range from hospital administrative staff (such as medical office assistants, secretaries and schedulers) to unregulated care providers (such as personal support workers and physician assistants) to regulated professionals (such as doctors, nurses and pharmacists). (Regulation will vary by province or territory.) According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), the need for nurses here is high, based on Canada’s RN-to-population ratio. (In 2022, we had just 825 nurses per 100,000 people.) Physicians are also badly needed. From 2022 to 2031, the number of job openings for family physicians and general practitioners is expected to reach 48,900, far outweighing the estimated 29,400 job seekers, according to the Canadian Occupational Projection System (COPS).
Training and credentials: This varies widely by job type, and by province or territory. Administrative and unregulated health workers may need training to satisfy job requirements; you can find courses at government-funded and private schools. For regulated health professionals, getting international credentials recognized in Canada can be challenging. This is changing somewhat, as regulatory bodies try to address the labour shortage. Still, getting licensed or certified to work in Canada can be expensive and time-consuming, and many newcomers are not successful in continuing their medical careers here. (Start with the government’s Foreign Credential Recognition Tool.)
Industry hot spots: The demand for health workers is strong across Canada. However, there are some places where the need is greater than others. Family physicians are most needed in the three territories (Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories), Quebec and British Columbia. Among the provinces, the physician-to-patient ratio is the worst in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and B.C. For personal support workers (PSWs) and continuing care assistants (CCAs), the demand is so high that some provinces, including Ontario and Nova Scotia, offer free training to qualified students. Graduates may be required to work in underserved communities for a certain period.
Salary range: Salaries vary widely by role, location and experience. A few examples from Canada’s Job Bank: Medical administrative assistants can earn $17 to $34.55 per hour (lowest rate in Prince Edward Island, highest rate in Yukon), with a national median of $22.56 per hour. Registered nurses can earn $25 to $83 per hour (lowest rate in Quebec, highest rate in Nunavut), with a national median of $40.39 per hour. General practitioners (family physicians) earn $69,539 to $497,843 per year (lowest amount in British Columbia, highest amount in Manitoba), with a national median of $233,726 annually.
There are many ways to join skilled trades in Canada. In mid-2023, the government announced a category-based priority immigration plan that includes trades jobs, such as carpenters, plumbers and contractors. Some provinces, such as Ontario, British Columbia and Nova Scotia, have programs to compete for much-needed skilled workers. (See resource box below for links.)
In-demand jobs: Below are the top five Red Seal tradespeople in demand from now until 2026, according to Employment and Social Development Canada. (The Red Seal Program sets the standards for skills assessment of tradespeople. Canada has more than 300 designated trades; about 50 of them are Red Seal trades.)
Training and credentials: Some trades jobs require training credentials, an apprenticeship, prior experience or a combination of these. Financial support, such as the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant (AIG) from the federal government, is available to meet these requirements.
Industry hot spots: The provinces and territories have different demand for skilled trades. For example, cooks are especially needed in Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. See jobs in greatest demand by province or territory.
Salary range: Salaries vary by skills and location. For example, a cook can earn $14 to $35 per hour (lowest rate in Saskatchewan, highest rate in Yukon), with a national median of $16. A welder can earn $16 to $54 per hour (lowest rate in Prince Edward Island, highest rate in Newfoundland and Labrador), with a national median of $28.
Canada’s banking and finance industry is one of its economic powerhouses, contributing about $70 billion to the gross domestic product (GDP) and employing more than 280,000 in 2022. There is a wide range of jobs in this industry, from administration clerks to specialists (such as financial advisors and securities agents) and middle-level managers to C-level executives, such as chief financial officer (CFO). The jobs in highest demand include financial advisors and different types of financial analysts (business, tax, financial reporting).
Training and credentials: Some jobs in this industry may require a license, designation or registration, such as a mutual funds licence or a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) or Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation. Further credentials, such as a master’s in business admiration (MBA) or master of finance degree (MFin), can also help job seekers stand out. At some educational institutions, it’s possible to complete one of these programs in two years or less.
Industry hotspots: Major banks, such as National Bank of Canada, actively seek diverse workers, including newcomers, and they have offices and branches across Canada. Some even have partnerships with immigrant-serving agencies and programs. You could also explore Canada’s fast-growing investment and fintech industries.
Salary range: Salaries vary widely—some entry-level positions can start just above minimum wage. For example, a bank teller may earn $15 to $35 per hour, depending on the location, while a bank branch manager earns $25 to $95. Check wages for other jobs in banking and investments.
Canada has a strong focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) jobs, as it tries to stay ahead in innovation. STEM professions are included in Canada’s priority sectors for immigration. Some of these jobs overlap with technology and health care jobs, such as data scientists or computer engineers, but most of them are in specific industries, such as manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, energy and academia. Among STEM jobs, engineers with different specializations—such as electrical, aerospace and software—are in particularly high demand.
There is also a growing focus on women in STEM, including industry-specific initiatives such as Engineers Canada’s “30 by 30” initiative, which aims to raise the percentage of newly licensed engineers who are women to 30% by 2030.
Training and credentials: While many STEM jobs require higher education, including master’s degrees and doctorates (PhDs), many entry-level jobs don’t require a college degree.Some STEM jobs can overlap with technology jobs. Applicants may need to have a licence (e.g., engineers) or registration with regulatory bodies. For the federal government express entry priority for STEM jobs, work experience is an eligibility requirement.
Industry hot spots: STEM jobs are available across Canada. You will likely find more opportunities, but also more competition, in larger cities like Toronto and Vancouver than in less populous areas in Canada.
Salary range: Salaries range widely by job and experience level. A few examples from the Job Bank: A software engineer with a university degree can earn from $22 to $86.54 per hour (lowest rate in New Brunswick, highest rate in British Columbia), with a national median of $51.64 per hour. An engineering manager with management experience and usually a professional engineer designation (P. Eng.) can earn $32.95 to $110.58 per hour (lowest rate in Saskatchewan, highest rate in Alberta), with a national median of $61.54.
No matter what industry you work in (or would like to work in), here are five tips to help you find good employment opportunities.
Research, research, research. Check out job postings using search engines and job websites, including the Job Bank.
Note that some postings on general job websites aren’t updated—check with the employer before you go to the trouble of preparing a cover letter and customizing your resumé.
You can also find job opportunities directly from prospective employers. Most have “Careers” or “Jobs” pages on their websites. Check out those of Canada’s top 100 employers. LinkedIn is also an excellent job-search and networking tool, and you can set alerts for specific job types and locations.
Unfortunately, some criminals target newcomers with fake job offers and scams. Be wary of offers that sound too good to be true, and job “opportunities” that require you to pay money up front. Learn more about employment scams from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. National Bank of Canada also offers tips to help you stay safe online and protect yourself against frauds.
If you need professional job-hunting help, consult job/career websites or organizations funded by the Government of Canada. On their websites or offices, look for “Funded by the Government of Canada” or “Funded by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada” and the government’s name or logo. Since these organizations receive taxpayer funding, their services are mostly free, and they have been vetted by the government.
And if you’re a college or university student, you have access to employment services at your school’s career centre, including job postings, job-search advice and resumé help.
This is a paid post that is informative but also may feature a client’s product or service. These posts are written, edited and produced by MoneySense with assigned freelancers and approved by the client.
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