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 💵 Average hourly wage in Canada is now $34.95/hour. The most recent StatsCan report states that Canada’s economy added 5x more jobs than it forecasted last month. The unemployment rate kept steady at 6.1%, while the Canadian dollar strengthened against US dollar by 0.3%. (CTV News)

Context: Canada still remains one of the most expensive countries in the world to live in. Coincidentally, it’s also one of the top 15 countries with the highest average wage.

 💹 Alberta’s economic growth is slowing. In fact, it’s lowest in more than a decade. It has to do with the surge in population growth and a decline in investments in the province. Historically, Alberta celebrated economic booms during the oil price surges, but not lately. Some experts say a larger share of oil revenues are being returned to shareholders, leaving a smaller share to be reinvested in operations in the province.(Financial Post)

Context: Alberta remains among the wealthiest Canadian provinces, and still continues to invest billions into oil and gas pipelines. It is likely that this drop in growth is just a hiccup while the province is adjusting to the surge in population and cost of living.

 🧑‍🚒 Wildfires in BC are coming back. Thousands have been evacuated from Fort Nelson due to forest fires. BC wildfire trends are alarming. Last year - 2023, was the most destructive year wildfire season in history.(The Guardian)

Alert: Stay safe out there. Use this map to stay alert on danger alerts and evacuations.

💊 BC bans ban public drug use. Last year, BC launched a drug de-criminalization initiative, hoping to tackle the provinces opioid crisis and make drug use safer. That move didn’t go as planned, at the request of the province and after a public backlash, the government is walking back part of the program.(NYT)

Context: BC has been a global pioneer of the harm reduction associated with drug use; however, the numbers are not speaking in favour of this movement so far: The province’s coroner estimated that there were a record 2,511 toxic drug deaths last year. Drug overdoses from toxic substances kill more people ages 10 to 59 than homicides, suicides, accidents and natural diseases combined in British Columbia, according to the provincial coroner’s office.

🧑‍🎓 International students realities are mismatched with the Canadian job market. A recent investigation reveals that nearly 800,000 students received student permits to study business programs, while programs for the shortage sectors - health science and trades accounted for only 1.25%. (CBC)

Context: Many Canadian educational institutions got greedy in the recent years and have been admitting far too many foreign students to study programs that have little to no demand in the job market.

Our take: 

Healthcare, Technology and Skilled Trades are the sectors experiencing the biggest shortages in Canada. There’s nothing else we recommend to consider studying in Canada if you plan to proceed with PR here.

🎩 Career Tips

Here’s how to start networking on LinkedIn.

First, know your goal. Why are you connecting to a particular individual? More often than not, it would be for either 1) getting job market insights 2) getting a referral.

Second, start connecting with professionals relevant to your goal:

• professionals holding managing positions in your field

• your potential colleagues / professionals in your desired position

• HR managers and recruiters

Next, make a list of companies where you would like to work - let’s start with 10 companies. Google can be your friend here to look for top companies in your field.

Once you have a list of companies, go to the company’s page and select the “People” tab. This is where you can find people who work in the company and what position they hold.

We also recommend to connect with recruiters - you can find them on any recruiting agency page in tab “People” or just search on LinkedIn by typing “{profession} + recruiter + location”.

For instance, if you’re a mechanical engineer looking for a job in Calgary, you will search for “Mechanical Engineering recruiter Calgary”

If you find a large recruiting company that hires for multiple industries - we still recommend to look for recruiters specifically hiring in your field.

Another way to start networking on LinkedIn is to lean on your background. Most immigrants like to help and support fellow newcomers, so reaching out to someone who comes from your country is one of the best ways to make new connections and get insights. You can connect with:

• an alumni of your university who is now living in Canada*

• professional in your field who is currently working in the city you’re moving to*

*You can use LinkedIn Advanced search feature to filter for parameters like “School”, “Location”, “Current Role”, etc

Connecting with strangers.

When you click “Connect”, you will be asked if you want to add a note. Always add a note since that increases your chances the other person will accept your invite and responds to start a conversation.

Templates for how to write notes:

• A short introduction of yourself and why you’re connecting:

e.g. “Hi [Name], I’m [My Name] and I’m a [position] with [X] years experience. I’m relocating to [City] and looking for advice on how to navigate my job search. Would you be open to share insights on how you’ve achieved success in [field] / [position]?”

• A complement if you follow the person’s posts and engage with them:

e.g. “Hello [Name], I came across your profile and appreciate your unique insights in [subject]. As a fellow [subject] professional, I'd love to connect and exchange insights and learn from each other.”

• An introduction and an invite for a discussion of a trendy subject (great if you’re members of the same group on LinkedIn):

e.g. “Hello [Name], we're both part of the “Machine Learning Toronto” Group. I'm fascinated by the recent OpenAi announcement and looking for a thought partner to discuss new use case ideas!”

• An introduction and emphasis on job search interest (great for connecting with recruiters):

e.g. “Hello [Name]! I'm [Profession] with [X] years of experience specializing in [Specialty], I'm currently exploring new opportunities and would like to connect to see if my skills would be a good fit for positions you have open.”

The goal here is to establish a professional connection, and provide context on why you’re connecting.

Be patient: you will send hundreds of messages you send, but only several will accept your invite, and only a couple will agree to have a meaningful conversation. Remember: you only need one conversation, one connection to get that insight, job tip or a referral!

🍰 Timbits

• Sweden is among the first rich countries to start cutting interest rates. (Canada’s June rate cuts are still bleak)

• Toronto ranks 13th among cities with the highest number of millionaire residents. (106,300 millionaires)

• Things to do in Toronto during the Victoria Day holiday (Fun)

• How Canadian largest companies are using AI (Microsoft report)

• Calgary named Canada’s top travel destination this summer

 💵 Deep Dive

Where are the biggest opportunities in Canada?

Skilled trades

Over 256,000 new apprentices are needed over the next 5 years to meet demand in Canada. The top needed professions are:

• Industrial Electrician (median wage $38.5/hr)

• Industrial Mechanic(Millwright) (median wage $32.6/hr)

• Welder (median wage $28/hr)

• Cook (median wage $16/hr)

• Painter and Decorator (median wage $25/hr)

For a full list of professions and the best provinces for each, you can check out this website.

Healthcare

Nearly 4% of Canadian workforce works in the healthcare sector. The growth of demand is projected to see a steady 2 digit % growth across all healthcare professions from medical assistants to nurses to doctors. There is a predicted shortage of 100,000+ nurses. Here are top professions needed:

• Family medicine (Average salary - $281,000/year)

• Anesthesiology (Average salary - $431,000/year)

• Pharmacology (Average salary - $308,000/year)

• Cardiothoracic Surgery (Average salary - $599,000/year)

• Registered Nurse (Average salary - $84,000/year)

For more info on healthcare shortages, and how governments support healthcare training, check this article.

Technology

Canada aims to become a world leader in AI, Automotive, Renewable Energy, and, as a matter of necessity, Construction Engineering (to fix the housing crisis).

Most in-demand professions:

• Civil Engineers (Annual salary $87,000)

• Automotive/Mechanical Engineers (Annual salary $83,000)

• Machine Learning Engineer (Annual salary $115,000)

• Mining Engineer (Annual salary $120,000)

💼 Job Highlights

📍Honda Canada in Markham, ON, has several roles open in Finance, Account Support and Customer Service.

📍Many cities across Canada are looking for on-call firefighters to prepare for the wildfire season. Check local city website for open positions, like this one.

📍Cisco Canada is hiring for several roles in Hardware Engineering, Customer Delivery and Sales.

📍PWC, a global accounting & consulting firm has 90+ positions open in finance, accounting, technology and support In Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal.

📍 Transport Canada has 24 positions open in Admin Support, Aircraft engineering/support, safety operations.

📍 1Password, Canada’s tech unicorn, has 40 positions open across all departments - sales, engineering, product/design, administration.

Which industries do you want to see more job postings for? Respond to this email to let us know.

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