The most in-demand occupations in Canada currently

LinkedIn’s recent report on the “20 Canadian roles that are growing in demand” reveals some key insights into professions that are seeing increased hiring in Canada.

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The study analyzed the titles of millions of jobs started by LinkedIn members between January 1st 2018, and July 31st 2022, to calculate a growth rate for each profession (excluding jobs that were not salaried full time or part time roles). The following is their list of the 20 jobs growing in demand in Canada over this four-year period, including top hiring regions and remote work availability:

Growth Marketing Manager—Top hiring regions: Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Greater Vancouver Metropolitan Area (GVMA), Greater Montreal Metropolitan Area (GMMA)—Remote job availability: 46.2%;
Product Operations Manager—Top hiring regions: GTA—Remote job availability: 43.2%;
Dispensary Technician—Top hiring regions: GTA—Remote job availability: N/A
Technical Program Manager—Top hiring regions: GTA, GVMA—Remote job availability: 29.3%;
Sustainability Manager—Top hiring regions: GTA—Remote job availability: 10.5%
Head of Growth—Top hiring regions: GTA—Remote job availability: 66.4%;
User Experience Writer—Top hiring regions: GTA—Remote job availability: 44.7%;
Information Technology Associate—Top hiring regions: GTA, GMMA—Remote job availability: 3.3%;
Site Reliability Engineer—Top hiring regions: GTA, GVMA, GMMA—Remote job availability: 44.7%;
Customer Success Associate—Top hiring regions: GTA—Remote job availability: 12.7%;
Valuation Analyst—Top hiring regions: GTA—Remote job availability: 3.6%;
Sales Development Representative—Top hiring regions: GTA, GVMA, GMMA—Remote job availability: 49.4%;
Security Engineer—Top hiring regions: GTA, GVMA, GMMA—Remote job availability: 57.9%;
Data Engineer—Top hiring regions: GTA, GVMA, GMMA—Remote job availability: 35.6%;
E-commerce Coordinator—Top hiring regions: GTA, GVMA, GMMA—Remote job availability: 4.8%;
Technical Product Manager—Top hiring regions: GTA, GVMA—Remote job availability: 33.1%;
Cyber Security Specialist—Top hiring regions: GTA, GVMA, Greater Calgary Metropolitan Area (GCMA)—Remote job availability: 13.4%;
Crew Scheduler—Top hiring regions: GTA—Remote job availability: N/A;
Medical Writer—Top hiring regions: GTA, GVMA, GMMA—Remote job availability: 56.9%;
Media Planner—Top hiring regions: GTA, GMMA—Remote job availability: 15.7%;

A note on job vacancies

November’s job vacancy report (the most recent data available) saw the overall number of vacancies in all industries across Canada decrease by 20,700 jobs. Despite this, vacancies overall remain at historic highs, totalling 850,300 open positions at the end of 2022.

Particularly, the healthcare and social assistance, professional scientific and technical services, and construction sectors continue to experience persistent vacancies (despite increasing hiring efforts), with little to no reduction on a year-over-year basis. This indicates a productive hiring climate in these industries—especially for newcomers, who collectively contribute to nearly 100% of labour force growth—as Canada’s economy moves farther away from the depressive effects of the COVID pandemic.

Pathways to immigration

For many, employment is not just a means of financial support, but also a path to stay permanently in Canada. Considering this, newcomers may be served by considering important policy changes, when determining their path to Canada.

For example, the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) are an immigration pathway by which provinces can invite newcomers directly to settle as permanent residents; based on their education, connection to the province, and experience with in-demand occupations. In 2023, PNPs are set to overtake Express Entry-managed programs, as Canada’s largest PR pathway—however important changes are also coming to Express Entry.

After the ascension of Bill C-19 in June of 2022, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser is now able to create specific immigration categories in the federal Express Entry pool (based on characteristics like occupation, language proficiency, education, etc.) and issue invitations to apply (ITAs) for permanent residence to these candidates. Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada has already expressed their interest in implementing the policy in spring of 2023.

While no further details have been given yet, occupations like the ones listed above (and in sectors with persistent job vacancies), stand a strong chance of being selected in these targeted Express Entry draws as they represent in-demand occupations that Canada cannot currently fill vacancies for; without the help of newcomers.

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