CANADIAN IMMIGRATION NEWS

Immigration Canada: Skilled-trades sector shows steady jobs growth

Monday, 3 November 2008

More than one million people worked in skilled trades in 2007, where employment growth has been a steady 2.2 per cent a year on average since the early 1990s, reports Statistics Canada.

These skilled trades groups include workers such as plumbers, masons, mechanics and crane operators, where a licence or certificate may be a condition of employment.

Whereas Alberta accounted for nine per cent of all trades employment in 1987, by 2007, this proportion had increased to 15 per cent. Similarly, during the same period, the proportion for British Columbia rose from 11 per cent to 15 per cent.

Average hourly earnings in 2007 were higher in the trades ($22.36) than in other occupations ($21.02) combined, with the highest earners being electricians, crane operators and plumbers, reports StatsCan.

However, the aging of the population has led to general concerns about the replacement of retiring workers, signifying the need for foreign workers in Canada. Specifically, 17 per cent of overall workers in the trades were immigrants, lower than the 21 per cent in the non-trades occupations combined.

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