As worker, housing shortages collide, Canada hones in on newcomers in skilled trades

Story by Uday Rana 

A new condo site under construction in Montreal on June 9, 2023. Canada has announced Express Entry invitations for newcomers with experience in the trades.© THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

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As Canada faces a labour crunch and housing shortage, the federal government is launching a separate stream of entry for newcomers with work experience in skilled trades.

Newly appointed immigration minister Marc Miller announced on Tuesday the first round of invitations under the Express Entry system for people working in trades.

“It’s absolutely critical to address the shortage of skilled trades workers in our country, and part of the solution is helping the construction sector find and maintain the workers it needs,” said Miller in a statement, making his first major announcement as Canada’s new immigration minister.

"This round of category-based selection recognizes these skilled trades workers as essential, and I look forward to welcoming more of these talented individuals to Canada."

Sean Fraser, Miller’s predecessor, had announced in May that Canada would amend the Express Entry program by adding category-based selections.

“Category-based selection signals Canada’s commitment to attract top global talent and help meet the need for tradespeople to support the economy. These category-based selection rounds will continue throughout the year, alongside general invitation rounds, and more details will be announced in the coming weeks,” an Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) press release said.

The statement added that by welcoming people in skilled trades such as carpentry, plumbing and welding, Canada can help its construction sector attract skilled workers.

Trades is the latest category to be added to the list of categories eligible for the Express Entry program. The others are French-language proficiency, healthcare occupation, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) occupations, transportation occupations and agriculture and agri-food occupations.

To qualify for Express Entry in the trades category, an applicant must have accumulated, within the past three years, at least six months of full-time, continuous work experience (or an equal amount of part-time work experience) in skilled trades in Canada or abroad.

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The construction industry is short tens of thousands of workers, and experts say a coming wave of retirements could make the problem worse. Meanwhile, Canada is millions of homes behind what’s needed to reach housing affordability this decade.

The job vacancy rate in construction is at a record high with around 80,000 vacancies in the industry, said CIBC deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal in a recent note.

Those vacancies, which push up building costs and impede productivity, come at a time when the residential construction industry is under pressure to meet the demands of a growing population.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. forecasts a need for 3.5 million more homes by 2030 than the country is currently on track to build.

The number of new homes built, however, has been in decline, from just over 271,000 in 2021 to 260,000 in 2022. And in May this year, the annual pace of housing starts dropped 23 per cent month over month, leading the CMHC’s chief economist to predict that just 210,000 to 220,000 new homes will be built by the end of the year.

— with files from the Canadian Press