Three new immigration programs in different regions of Canada

Construction workers, truck drivers, and candidates in other professions that do not require higher education are lucky. And also the IT specialists.

The good news is that in early March, Canada launched new immigration programs in three Canadian provinces at once. New ways to get to Canada have been appearing very frequently lately. Recently, for example, a new immigration stream to rural towns in the province of Alberta has appeared. The requirements are quite low: poor English, school education, a year of work experience.

In the new immigration programs, the requirements are very similar, but there are no restrictions on cities, you can settle anywhere within the province. I will talk about the provinces first, and then about their programs.

Occupations in Demand stream in Prince Edward Island

I'll start with Prince Edward Island, because its stream started first. It is one of the Atlantic provinces in eastern Canada and the smallest province in the country, with just over 160,000 people. I think it's understandable that it's not particularly popular among immigrants, so the authorities decided to launch a new program to invite people who are in short supply in the job market.

Prince Edward Island has the great advantage of being one of the cheapest regions to live in, so it's a good place to start. If you find the Island too boring, you can move to a larger region when you get your permanent residency.

Now about the program. The new Occupations in Demand stream fits certain professions. You only need a school education, 1 year of work experience in the profession and knowledge of English or French at IELTS level 4, this is the basic level. There is an age limit: you must be between 18 and 59 years. The range is very wide, so if you're worried about being 35 or even 45, this might be a good option.

You will also need money for your first time in Canada. They do not ask for a specific amount, but you will need to buy plane tickets, pay immigration fees, rent a place to live, pay for food, travel, furniture, and so on.

As with all the programs that Canada has been launching lately, you need a provincial job offer here, which should come as no surprise to anyone. The new program requires 4 low-skilled occupations. The salaries are according to the Job Bank job search website.

nurse assistants, orderlies and patient care assistants — $21 CAD per hour or $3,360 CAD per month before taxes;
truck drivers — $19 CAD per hour, $3,070 CAD per month;
construction helpers and handymen — $16 CAD per hour, $2,560 CAD per month;
cleaners — $15.60 per hour, $2,500 CAD per month.

As for truck drivers, the profession is needed everywhere. On Prince Edward Island it fits the demand stream, and New Brunswick has a separate program for it, but more on that later.

For the in-demand worker program, you can already apply on the official website of Prince Edward Island.

Transport Truck Driver stream in New Brunswick

The second new program to move to Canada is the Transport Truck Driver stream to the province of New Brunswick. It's also a small Atlantic province that immigrants don't really want to go to, but the prices of living there are some of the lowest in Canada, so it's also a great place to start. By the way, of the Canadian provinces, New Brunswick has the most job fairs where you can get a job offer.

The requirements for truckers are low: age from 19 to 55, school education, English or French at level 4 in IELTS. But here you need not only a job offer, but also to work in the province for six months and only then apply for permanent residency. Total work experience as a truck driver must be 2 years in the last 5 years.

The last requirement in the stream is to score 60 out of 90 on the provincial grading system. They are scored very easily. For age, the maximum is given to people between 22 and 55, I think most are just in that range. For a high school education, 2 years work experience, including 6 months in New Brunswick, and English at level 4, you will get 63 points, which is enough to apply. If you go with your spouse and she also takes the IELTS test at 4, you will get 68 points, and if you have a college or university degree, you will get 73.

Truckers in New Brunswick earn on average $19.50 CAD an hour or $3,120 CAD a month before taxes. After a candidate has found a job and worked for six months, they can apply online at the New Brunswick website.

Tech Talent Pathway in Saskatchewan

And the latest of the new immigration programs to Canada is the Tech Talent Pathway, which is suitable for workers in technology and innovation. It was launched by the province of Saskatchewan. This region has only two major cities, most of it is prairie, and 35% of the people live in rural areas. Apparently, the provincial authorities want to develop the IT sphere. Interestingly, almost the entire population of Saskatchewan consists of descendants of immigrants, and the province also has the largest Ukrainian diaspora in Canada.

Now about the Technical Program. It is divided into two subcategories. The first subcategory is for those who have a Express Entry profile and who qualify for one of the federal immigration programs. They have high requirements for language level, finances, and education, and young applicants have a better chance.

I think you will like better the second subcategory — for candidates without a profile in Express Entry. It requires any post-secondary education, English or French at IELTS level 5, and a job offer in the province. That is, the requirements are higher than in previous streams. But less work experience is needed: from 1 year in the last 5 years in any country or from 6 months in Saskatchewan. There is also no age restriction. There's a special website for job searching, and the immigration application is online.

But not all professions are suitable, but only 11. These include engineers, programmers, developers, web designers, technicians, testers, tech support specialists. Such specialists earn much more than low-skilled professions: from $27 to $53 CAD per hour, or from $4,300 to $8,500 CAD per month before taxes.

Working in Canada

Many people probably think the programs are useless because it is easier for employers to find janitors or handymen who are already in Canada rather than wait for someone from abroad. Of course, it is easier for the company because to hire a foreigner you have to spend time and money on paperwork and wait for the applicant to fly to Canada. But I believe that if there were no shortage of workers, no one would launch separate immigration programs.

So if you have experience in any of the professions I've listed, you need to put together a Canadian-format resume and apply for jobs. I'm not saying it's quick and easy, but we have quite a few interviews with guys who got to Canada through employment. Some of them include both IT guys and simple workers.