Embark on your construction career as an immigrant in Canada with BCCA-IN
With finding employment being a top priority for most newcomers, a new program makes it easier for you to continue your construction career as an immigrant in Canada. The British Columbia Construction Association – Integrating Newcomers (BCCA-IN), a free program funded by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), looks at your skills, roles, and experiences, and maps your development in Canada.
Run by immigrants, career coaches, and construction professionals who know the industry and understand your career potential, BCCA-IN provides in-depth skills, education, credential assessments, one-on-one career coaching, insights into job hunting, construction culture, networking, live job leads, employer connections, and peer-to-peer relationship building, as part of efforts to enable you to continue your construction career as an immigrant in Canada.
Although headquartered in BC, the program has a Canada-wide scope and includes professionals who live across the country. No matter where you plan on landing and residing, if you are interested in working in the construction industry, do check out this program.
How large is Canada’s construction sector?
Construction is one of Canada’s largest industrial sectors and is a leading source of employment growth. It accounts for 7.8 percent of Canada’s GDP and is made up mostly of small businesses, with approximately 62 percent of industries classified as micro businesses, with less than five employees.
One in 13 workers in Canada is directly employed by the construction sector.
“The need for workers in construction is far greater than anyone anticipated,” said Louise Nichols, skills assessor at the British Columbia Construction Association (BCCA). “We have known since the seventies that have a declining birth rate in Canada, and we’ve needed to do special programs, and lots and lots of immigration to develop a labour force that can compete on an international level.”
For example, the City of Toronto predicts that in the next seven or eight years, it will be short of nearly 150,000 construction workers to execute projects such as housing plans, providing potential opportunities for you to build on your construction career as an immigrant in Canada.
Read more: Before You Arrive in Canada: 7 things to do for job search
Many professions in construction and other sectors are also regulated to protect the health and safety of people, by ensuring that professionals and tradespersons meet the required standards of practice and competency. To work in a regulated profession, you need to first obtain a license to practice, or a certificate of qualification. The BCCA-IN program helps you clarify if your profession is regulated, and then connects you with the right credential authority so that you can get your career in Canada off to a great start.
“There could be training that is voluntary, but if that training is welcomed and recognized by employers, then it makes it very valuable,” Nichols added. “There might be times when we suggest that even though you don’t have to have mandatory training, you go and get some voluntary training, which would help.”
Career opportunities available in construction
There are many different construction jobs for immigrants in Canada. A licensed technical professional, such as a technician, technologist, architect, estimator, surveyor, engineer, or project manager, is likely to have mandatory training.
Skilled trades, on the other hand, include tradespersons, labourers, carpenters, concrete polishers, crane operators, electricians, heavy equipment mechanics, pipefitters, and many others. Construction also employs business strategy specialists, such as logisticians, supply chain managers, and operations specialists. The BCCA-IN program helps you identify the right role for you to target.
You can fill out this online application if you are interested in applying for the BCCI-IN program.
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