Are we attracting the right talent?
A commenter on my recent Brunswick News column wondered if the million people that came to Canada this year had the skills the country is looking for - he particularly was interested in the construction trades.
It’s a good question. First, the data below relates to permanent resident admissions only and uses the PR admissions data by intended occupation data published by IRCC. I do not analyze here students and temporary workers because they are not permanent residents. Many would like to be and many will try but the permanent population - based on IRCC PR admission data - rose by 434,360 permanent residents between Jan-November 2023. New Brunswick admitted 10,225 between Jan-Nov 2023.
The problem with the PR by occupation data is that it only applies to the primary applicant so spouses and children old enough to work are not included. But based on the data we do have, here is a look at the PR admissions by occupational group.
The grumpy commentator is correct in that New Brunswick is still not attracting many construction workers. In the data there are only 50-60 in related NOC codes - only 10 carpenters, 15 welders, 5 plumbers, etc. (note the data is rounded to the nearest 5).
Other provinces are doing much better. Ontario admitted 610 welders, 660 telecom line workers, 360 carpenters and cabinet makers, 275 millwrights, etc.
Information technology continues to be a top category with 365 PR admissions in 2023 (through November). This doesn’t include engineers which interestingly there were 45 admitted in 2023.
Health care is attracting international talent - but really only the nursing workforce. As you can see, no dentists, no specialized health care workers - just nurses, LPNs and nurse aides. There were 15 physicians admitted.
There were around 500 PRs related to the food sector:
And less than 200 in the food manufacturing sector:
The transportation sector is attracting less in recent years - only 140 truck drivers were admitted to NB in 2023.
These jobs are getting hard to fill locally:
The business services sector continues to be a top employer in the province. It is attracting some PRs but not many relative to the size of the sector.
Again, the data is limited because about half of the adults not not have a listed occupation. We do not know where (or even if) they are working.
It is important to align our immigrant attraction to the needs of the workforce. In Q3 2023, the top three-digit NOC occupational groups for job vacancies in New Brunswick included, in order:
Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations [671]
Professional occupations in nursing [301]
Assisting occupations in support of health services [341]
Retail salespersons [642]
Motor vehicle and transit drivers [751]
Paraprofessional occupations in legal, social, community and education services [421]
Trades helpers and labourers [761]
Chefs and cooks [632]
Customer and information services representatives [655]
Other technical occupations in health care [323]
Service supervisors [631]
Cleaners [673]
Automotive service technicians [732]
Home care providers and educational support occupations [441]
Other sales support and related occupations [662]
Machinery and transportation equipment mechanics (except motor vehicles) [731]
Harvesting, landscaping and natural resources labourers [861]
Medical technologists and technicians (except dental health) [321]
Social and community service professionals [415]
Labourers in processing, manufacturing and utilities [961]
It is more than just nurses that are in demand from the health care sector.
I don’t know about you but I don’t see people knocking down the door to become mechanics and yet there is a high demand.
I think we can conclude the alignment of newcomer attraction to actual jobs that fit their skills and interest is improving but we have a lot of work to do.