The most in-demand professions for immigration to Canada

Not everyone can get into Canada, especially if you do not have enough points in the Express Entry system. But there are in-demand professions in Canada that are highly valued by provincial immigration programs, which have reduced requirements for applicants. Under them you can move even without higher education, with school English and often without much money. If you have the right specialty, you are already one foot in Canada. If not, you can quickly learn the profession you want, get 1 year of work experience in your country, and sometimes even less, and then apply for immigration to Canada.

I founded the Immigrant.Today Canadian Immigration Project in 2015 and I am a co-owner of a Canadian immigration company. In order to get permanent residency in Canada, there are more than 120 immigration programs, each of which has different requirements for candidates: age, English, education, and other factors are assessed. For most programs, the candidate's profession and work experience are important.

We have digitized most immigration programs, and I decided to analyze which professions are most in demand. And here's the problem. There are different ways to do this, because under the federal programs there is no specific list of occupations, it just says that the occupation must be qualified. The federal qualified program is hard enough to score, so I decided not to consider it.

Instead, I will analyze provincial programs that specifically list occupations. For example, carpenters. Do you think it's a popular occupation? I'll tell you right off the bat that it's in the top in terms of popularity because it's in the top ten provincial programs. I'll name them a little later.

Top 29 professions

I will start with two professions in the medical field. They are specialist doctors and professional therapists. I'll go ahead and say that there will be similar professions further down the rankings. Occupational therapists make $59,000 CAD a year, and specialty physicians make $162,500 CAD, which is just a huge amount. The downside of these specialties is that you need a license, you have to retrain, you have to go a very long way to become a doctor in Canada in general.

All amounts are before taxes. How much will be left after taxes is very difficult to say, because different Canadian provinces have different taxes and everything is quite complicated to calculate. You can write off some of the costs. For example, today I ordered an iPad Mini, I need it for work, so in fact, my total income, from which I have to pay taxes, I will reduce by the cost of the device.

The next profession I will probably have to turn to soon. They are roofer and master installers. There was a lot of wind in Ottawa, and I found a piece of roofing on the car window. Lots of Canadians live in their homes, roofs are plentiful, you won't be out of work. And, according to official statistics, you will earn more than $35,000 CAD a year.

Next after roofers are tile workers, for whom there are even more immigration programs with salaries of $32,000 CAD per year, then industrial electricians, who earn over $87,000 CAD per year, and concrete workers, who have proven more in demand in provincial immigration programs. The annual salary is almost $48,000 CAD.

Another profession that is in high demand because the average life expectancy in Canada is over 82 years is care workers, housekeepers and related professions. I interviewed a young woman who found work in Canada in this profession in just 1 hour. Despite the profession's in-demand, the pay isn't much — just over $24,000 CAD a year. Although the girl who found the job said she was immediately offered a good hourly rate.

Construction assistants and handymen — I never would have thought these were in-demand professions, but Canadian provincial officials disagree with me. There are immigration programs especially for them. The annual income is $36,500 CAD.

Another high-paying profession in medicine is medical laboratory technologists, with an average income of about $62,000 CAD.

It's finally time for my ranking to go to IT professionals. Database Analysts and Information Systems Analysts. Their annual incomes are almost identical: $75,000 and $76,000 CAD.

But then there are workers again: transmission line and cable workers, who earn more than analysts, $96,000 CAD a year, and large equipment mechanics with earnings of $73,000 CAD. Then there are the skilled trades — electrical and electronic engineers. It turns out they even include sound engineers. The annual income is $97,500 CAD.

Next in line are floor coverings installers. Their salaries are not as high, averaging $31,500 CAD. Next in line are painters and painters with a salary of $27,000 CAD. Slightly more in demand are welders, they are required in many immigration programs. Their earnings are also higher, already $52,500 CAD.

I'll finish with the working professions for a while, but there will be more to come. For now, the medical professions again are therapists and family physicians, they are just behind the top ten and are in 12th place. Family physicians are very popular in Canada. You can choose a specialist who can monitor the health of all family members. In large cities, such a doctor is often hard to find. Our family, by the way, has a Russian-speaking family doctor. I can please you with the salary — $121,000 CAD a year, but you need a license to work.

Next in demand are computer engineers, not to be confused with programmers. They design various electronics and monitor the implementation of equipment. Responsible jobs with appropriate salaries of over $92,000 CAD per year.

In the next place are again medical professionals — technologists of radiation medicine. I think knowledgeable people will understand who these are. This includes radiographers, radiation therapy doctors, and so on. Like all doctors, the salary is decent — $63,000 CAD.

Tenth place went to plasterers, installers and drywall finishers. I didn't think they were in such demand, but as it happens, they are. I guess such a profession could suit a lot of people. The salary, though, is lower than the professionals I just mentioned — $35,500 CAD.

Other in-demand professions

I will name a few occupations that did not make the top 29, but are also popular: heavy equipment operators, nurses, butchers, biotechnologists, primary care workers, locksmiths, heating system mechanics, social workers, web designers, bricklayers, machinists, glaziers, and others.

If you work in these professions and want to know if you can move to Canada, free estimate your chances of moving to Canada. You fill out one questionnaire and then our clever information system checks whether you qualify for immigration in more than 120 programs, as well as showing your annual income in your profession.

Top 10 professions

And I'll go back to the professions. In ninth place are car, truck and bus repairmen and repair mechanics. These all belong to the same specialty. They make $48,500 CAD, not bad, I think.

Two other IT professions, in my opinion, were few. The first is software developers. There are 15 provincial programs that clearly state that this particular profession is needed. But in general there are as many as 85 programs for programmers. The salary, like all IT people, is high — $89,000 CAD. And the second profession is computer networking technicians, who maintain websites as well as hardware and software servers. The salary is $61,000 CAD per year.

I came up to the top five most in-demand professions, so who gets there?

Top 5 professions

Fifth place is occupied by plotters with an annual income of almost $40,000 CAD. I have counted more than 70 programs and streams of immigration to Canada under which holders of this profession can apply for permanent residency. My ranking of this specialty is due to the fact that there are 15 programs and 1 job fair going on at the time this video was filmed, which states that carpenters are specifically needed.

I want to reassure you right away: if your profession is not on my list, it does not mean that you cannot move to Canada for it. It is just that professionals are not specifically invited for it, but in general it happens. For example, I have not yet named the profession of accountant or HR specialist. They are in the skilled class, and many programs simply state that if your specialty has a certain skill level, you can apply for immigration.

Here are the carpenters needed for 15 programs personally, but 78 in total. My rating is more about the first number. I hope this is clear.

Fourth place — plumbers with a salary of over $53,000 CAD per year. There's nothing to comment on here, when our toilet tank broke, a simple call to a specialist cost in the neighborhood of $100 CAD.

Top 3 professions

So, the top three most in-demand professions to immigrate to Canada. I'll start with electricians. They earn even more, about $57,000 CAD a year. This is another working profession that is very much needed in Canada and can make a decent living at it.

The second place is truck drivers. They are, I think, out of competition, because immigration via trucking is one of the top ways to get to Canada. Right now, 16 immigration programs are accepting applications specifically from truckers, and there are still a huge number of programs for which this profession fits, and there are also job fairs for them from time to time. The only difficulty — getting a Canadian license, for this you need to study at a local truckers school. And truck drivers make on average $45,000 CAD a year.

First place in my ranking of in-demand occupations went to nurse assistants, nurses and patient care assistants. On average, they earn more than $32,000 CAD a year across Canada. You don't have to get an additional license to work in this specialty. Yes, the job is not the most pleasant, you will have to take care of patients: bathing and dressing them, serving food, taking blood pressure and temperature, and making beds. But on the other hand, if you firmly want to get to Canada and live in the country that was ranked first in the world's best countries, this profession will help you realize your dream.

Immigration programs for workers

At the beginning I promised to show examples of immigration programs. For carpenters, these are:

• Ontario Provincial Stream;
• federal employee program;
• 2 programs province of Manitoba;
• as many as four streams of the province of Saskatchewan;
• There are 6 cities that participate in the rural and northern pilot, each with different requirements.

A total of 14 programs. The province of New Brunswick also announced an information session on in-demand professions in the winter, which included carpenters.

Alex Pavlenko, founder of Immigrant.Today