05/20/2026
Now that emotions over the recent 33,000 TR to PR announcement have died down, we should seriously examine the federal government’s April 28, 2026 decisions concerning skilled trades workers. These decisions support opening the project to land 6,000 undocumented trades workers.
· Over the next 5 years Canada will face a shortage of 1 million skilled trades workers.
· Canada will invest $6 billion to train 80,000 to 100,000 new skilled trades workers over the next five years.
· Government knows that most of the $6 billion will be wasted. The problem is that young Canadians are not interested in the trades. Only 34% of Canadian apprentices complete their courses.
· Government has admitted the need for “targeted immigration pathways for skilled trades”
· Government is now reviewing the systemic bias of Express Entry rules against skilled trades workers. No construction professions ranked within the top 15 professions of those in the Express Entry pool. Instead, 46% were candidates with Master’s Degrees, 40% were individuals with Bachelor’s Degrees, and 4% were individuals with PhDs.
· A big question is whether government will lower or drop Express Entry language and education requirements for trades workers.
The only existing program ready to help the trades industry is the project to land 6,000 undocumented construction workers. We will continue to lobby for its implementation.
