Construction jobs in Canada

Construction work in Canada is very lucrative! And it's in high demand. Find out how much you can earn and how you can stay in construction.

In this article, we'll look at:

the demand for the profession;
the level of construction workers' wages;
the Canadian builder classification;
options for immigration by profession.

Why are construction workers in such high demand in Canada?

Canada ranks among the top 10 countries in terms of GDP. And almost half of its gross domestic product comes from five industries. One of them is construction. The number of people employed in the industry is almost 1.5 million. Annually, 170-180 thousand residential homes are built in Canada. In addition to this, commercial and industrial buildings are being actively built. Every year, Canada welcomes more and more immigrants, the demand for housing is growing, the pace of construction is increasing, and current workers are retiring, so this industry needs more and more people.

Over the next decade, Canada's construction industry will need to fill more than 300,000 jobs. To fill workforce gaps, employers will look to immigrants more than ever before. Immigrants now make up 18% of the Canadian construction workforce.

Canada's construction industry is concentrated primarily in the main cities where most immigrants live: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. Toronto is the world's second fastest-growing city in terms of skyscrapers after Shanghai. Right now, the construction labour shortage is most acute in the Greater Toronto Area. The industry relies in part on illegal labour. Therefore, Canadian authorities have developed a special immigration program to legalize builders as soon as possible and not interrupt construction projects.

And Montreal needs 20,000 workers a year for the next 10 years to meet labor market demand. The Quebec Construction Association says handymen (they are paid $16.5 an hour on average and $25 for experienced professionals), elevator mechanics ($41-59), electricians ($28-40), heavy equipment operators ($25-36), crane operators ($24.5-35.5), welders ($18-26) and painters ($17-26) are most needed.