Engineering Jobs in Canada: Canada's need to replace retiring engineers is becoming more and more pressing, especially for mechanical and civil professions. Governments and enterprises must search outside of Canada for engineers with the necessary training to fill all of the engineering positions that are available now and in the future.
Who will work in Canada as an engineer with all these jobs? Give it a go! Now, let’s get going.
As you may know, there are several career options in the vast field of engineering in Canada. Particular attention will be paid to structural, mechanical, electrical, geotechnical, and civil engineering. Engineers in these fields have the option of going into contracting or working in professional services. Because engineering careers in Canada are so detailed, this post will only exclusively focus at consulting engineering occupations. For a more thorough understanding of the labour market, you may want to check out the Construction Jobs in Canada page if contracting is your area of interest.
Consulting with Experts in Engineering
It’s crucial to keep in mind that Canadian businesses highly respect the Professional Engineer (P. Eng.) qualification if you want to pursue a career in design consulting. In order to get this, you must become an Engineer-In-Training (EIT) and work under a professional engineer for three years, as well as receive accreditation from the appropriate provincial engineering authority. Before beginning your job hunt in design consulting, we strongly advise obtaining EIT certification, since businesses strongly prefer to recruit applicants with P. Eng status.
A 12-month local experience requirement and passing an ethics test are prerequisites for engineers holding their Chartership from any of the 19 participating nations or jurisdictions to transition to P. Eng. status in Canada under the Washington Accord. Australia, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, United Kingdom, and United States are these nations and jurisdictions. Find out more about it here.
It is not surprising that talented foreign applicants are in great demand given the tremendous demand for engineering consulting employment in Canada. In order to connect the links between some of the most ambitious engineering projects in Canada and the most highly competent engineering professionals worldwide, Moving2Canada collaborates closely with our sister site Outpost Recruitment.
The following engineering positions in Canada are filled by Outpost Recruitment in collaboration with top engineering consultancies:
- ICI Buildings’ mechanical designers and project managers
- Project managers and electrical designers for ICI Buildings
- Project managers and civil designers for infrastructure and land development
- Project manager and structural designer for ICI Buildings
- To see the most recent jobs, stop by our Jobs Board.
Best advice for Canadian engineering careers
We felt it would be a good idea to talk to Ruairi from Outpost Recruitment about his best advice for those seeking for engineering careers in Canada, given the knowledge that Outpost Recruitment, our sister site, has about engineering employment in Canada.
Outside of Outpost Recruitment, Ruairi Spillane
Spillane Ruairi (RS): Take the effort to localize your resume to Canada. When you lack local experience and carry “immigration risk” as a newcomer, the same document you use in your home country will usually underwhelm a hiring manager in Canada. This means that your potential employer has doubts about your ability or intention to stay in Canada long-term, a feeling you need to mitigate early. Use the Canadian resume structure and emphasize project management and value addition in your writing. This might involve:
- Including pertinent information about your projects, such as their scope, monetary worth, and delivery method.
- concentrating on the beneficial effects you brought to each endeavor.
- Spending time carefully outlining every aspect of your position.
- M2C: Could you list a few pitfalls that newly hired engineers in Canada should steer clear of?
- R.S. As a new graduate or seasoned engineer, there’s a strong chance you’ve recently studied for tests, conferences, and presentations. On the other hand, the following advice might be useful for information particular to Canada:
Obtaining your Professional Engineer certification is crucial for consulting engineers, therefore be ready to go into great depth about this goal.
Never undervalue the significance of having local experience. Working in any new market comes with a learning curve, so be sure your attitude and expectations about your pay match this.
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Remember to consider the long term. Because Canadian firms demand at least a three- or four-year return on each person they hire, many applicants who enter on a temporary work visa end up failing. If you want to excel in an engineering career in Canada, you nearly always need to have plans to remain longer than two years.
M2C: What inquiries ought engineers to make throughout a job interview?
R.S. You may use a lot of this information, which is focused on engineering positions in Canada, for interviews in your native country as well. However, if you think an offer is imminent, here are some of the most crucial questions you want to think about asking to a prospective employer:
In what ways have foreign applicants mastered the art of adapting to a novel market?
What steps can I take right now to help me become ready to work in Canada?
What may be expected during the first three to six months of the position?
Over the next two to three years, how will the firm help me advance my career?
M2C: For each engineering position, which cities or provinces are strong?
R.S. I will speak about the construction and infrastructure industries since it is Outpost Recruitment’s primary emphasis.
If you have a certain place in mind, then be ready, look into employment prospects in this area, and put a lot of effort into your job search. With enough preparation, you may find your ideal position anywhere.
At the present, the job markets in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec are trending positively. It should be noted, nevertheless, that if you do not know French, working in Quebec may provide difficulties. The current low prices of commodities are causing hardship for the Prairie provinces. Of the major Canadian cities at the moment, the safest choices are Vancouver (including the Lower Mainland) and Toronto (including the Greater Toronto Area). Consider places like Victoria and Kelowna in British Columbia, as well as Guelph and Oakville in Ontario, if you don’t belong in a big metropolis.
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A popular location for engineers relocating to Canada is Toronto.
M2C: What difficulties do you anticipate ahead for Canadian engineers in 2020 and beyond?
R.S. Of course, at the moment, the COVID-19 coronavirus problem is the most urgent worry. It is difficult to forecast how this health crisis would affect society, and the engineering sector could not be exempt.
That being said, there aren’t many difficulties in almost any other area of the Canadian industry. I would even venture to suggest that engineers in Canada have a bright future, particularly in the construction and infrastructure sectors. Immigration is one of the main economic drivers of Canada.
How an engineer may relocate to Canada
The abundance of possibilities is one of the best things about becoming an engineer in Canada. Furthermore, there are work permit categories that do not always require a job offer, and there is a direct and reasonably quick route to permanent residence (PR), even if you have never lived in Canada before and do not have a job offer. This is in contrast to other countries like Australia or the Gulf States. Workers are welcomed into Canada via a number of PR programs and work visa categories. Our sister site, Outpost Recruitment, has a comprehensive blog where you can find out more about all these programs, including work permits and the well-known IEC program, among many more.
2020 need for engineering talents in Canada
The wonderful thing about engineering careers in Canada is that they often maintain a high degree of resilience against the ups and downs of financial success—or failure, depending on the situation. It is true that there is still a significant need for highly trained engineers throughout Canada, even though this does not imply that the industry is completely immune to changes in the broader economy.
The top eight engineering positions in Canada in 2019, according Pivotal, were as follows:
- Engineer in electrical
- Engineer in mechanics
- Project manager
- Technician in civil engineering
- Engineer in manufacturing
- Process specialist
- manager of engineering
- Technician for quality assurance
- Engineering expertise that is in high demand
- The engineering talents that businesses in Canada are seeking are always changing. That said, the following abilities will be in great demand in the next months, depending on your field of expertise:
Experience with AutoCAD is the most sought-after expertise among companies.
All engineering areas need proficiency with instrumentation and measurement, particularly in the manufacturing industry and with QA (quality assurance).
For designers, structural engineers, and architects, Autodesk Revit
The Solid works design program is used by about 165,000 businesses.
Credentials in high demand
Top certificates in Canada consist of:
- Engineer for Structures (SE)
- A professional engineer, or PE (P.Eng.)
- In-training Engineer (EIT)
- Technologist in Engineering Certification (C.Tech / CET)
- Drafting and Design with Computer Assistance (CADD)
- Technician in Electronic Systems (EST)
- Canadian engineering jobs: resources
- Resources for Newcomers at Engineers Canada
- The Association of Professional Engineers/Consultants for British Columbia, or APEGBC,
- The Association of Professional Engineers/Consultants for Alberta, or APEGGA, is in Alberta.
- PEO (Professional Engineers Ontario) is in Ontario.
- Association of Professional Engineers and Consultants for Saskatchewan, or APEGS, is located in Saskatchewan.
- Register with Outpost Recruitment to learn more about job possibilities in Canada’s engineering industry.