Immigrate to Canada as a Butcher: Everything you need to know
Employers are already struggling to fill the hundreds jobs in Canada open to butchers and a federal job search and career planning website predict that the labor shortage will only get worse.
Jobs go begging in meat processing plants, supermarkets, supermarkets and butchers.
“This occupational group is expected to experience labor shortages at a national level in the period 2022 – 2031,” says Job Bank.
“The labor shortages of recent years are expected to continue.”
With Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announcing earlier this year that Canada’s Fast entry system will begin targeting 82 jobs this summer in healthcare, technology, commerce, transportation and agriculture – including as butchers under National Occupational Classification 63201 – foreigners hoping to immigrate to Canada are now looking at a new opportunity to permanent residence here.
The flagship Express Entry selection system has previously only conducted draws based on immigration programs, not targeting specific occupations.
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Applicants must have at least six months of continuous work experience in Canada or abroad within the past three years in one of these occupations to be eligible, experience that may have been gained while working in Canada as temporary foreign workers with a work permits or as an international student with a student visa.
The opportunities are certainly there.
At the beginning of June, there were 417 job vacancies for butchers on Job Bank, some of which came from employers looking to hire more than one worker. The job site Indeed.ca listed 501 such job openings across the country at the time.
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Most of those jobs, 68.3 percent, were in the large, central Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, which together accounted for 285 butcher jobs at the beginning of June. At the time, employers in Quebec were looking for 184 butchers, Ontario for 101.
On the West Coast, employers in British Columbia were looking for 72 butchers at the time, and the Prairie Province of Alberta for another 35. Manitoba and Saskatchewan had eight vacancies each, and all of the Atlantic Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island together accounted for six of these vacancies.
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Among the changes announced at the end of May, Express Entry streams, including the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program, Federal Skilled Commerce (FST) program and Canadian experience class (CEC), as well as parts of the Provincial nominated programs (PNP) will now better respond to the needs of the labor market.
“Everywhere I go, I have heard loud and clear from employers across the country who are experiencing chronic labor shortages,” said Immigration Secretary Sean Fraser.
All three Express Entry programs are open to profession-specific draws
“These changes to the Express Entry system will ensure they have the skilled employees they need to grow and succeed. We can also grow our economy and help companies with labor shortages, while also increasing the number of francophone candidates to help ensure the vitality of francophone communities.”
Canada first signaled its intention to launch profession-specific draws via Express Entry last June when changes were made to the Immigration, Refugee and Protection Act to allow invitations based on occupations and other characteristics, such as language skills.
Most Canadian provinces have been issuing job-specific invitations for many years.
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Under the amendments to the law, the immigration minister is required to consult with provinces and territories, industry members, unions, employers, workers, worker advocacy groups, settlement provider organizations, and immigration researchers and practitioners before announcing new categories.
IRCC is also required to report annually to Parliament on the categories chosen and the rationale for the choices.
Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) says the number of occupations with a shortage will double between 2019 and 2021. From 2018 to 2022, federal high-skilled admissions accounted for between 34 and 40 percent of total francophone admissions outside of Quebec, which is its own immigration intake.
