The labour market outcomes of economic immigrants in the skilled trades

Since the 1990s, Canadian immigration policy has emphasized human capital, particularly education and language proficiency, in the selection of economic immigrants. While immigration and the domestic educational system continuously increase the supply of a university-educated labour force, there has been concern that skilled trades are an often-overlooked career option for many secondary school graduates, and that this may lead to labour shortages in skilled trades. This article examines trends in the number of economic immigrant principal applicants who intended to work in skilled trades, their sociodemographic characteristics, and their employment and earnings outcomes. Also, comparisons are made with other economic immigrant principal applicants.