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The demand for licensed practical nurses, already highly-sought-after by hospitals and clinics throughout Canada, is only expected to grow over the coming nine years, a situation that will create plenty of opportunity for qualified foreign nationals to gain their permanent residence here through occupation-targeted Express Entry system draws.
“Over the period 2022 – 2031, the number of job openings arising from expansion demand and replacement demand for licensed practical nurses (LPNs) are expected to total 27,800, while the number of job seekers arising from school leavers, immigration and mobility is expected to total 26,300,” notes the Canadian Occupational Projection System (COPS) website.
That’s an additional shortfall of 1,500 LPNs in Canada over the coming nine years – and the Indeed.ca job-hunting website already had 3,303 job postings for these healthcare professionals in early October.
With the aging of the Canadian population, more LPNs are expected to be needed to provide a growing need for healthcare services, including in nursing homes as Baby Boomers begin to need that care.
“The increase in the number of seniors, coupled with a longer life expectancy, should lead to a higher demand for hospital centres for long-term care,” notes the COPS website.
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“In addition, the importance of auxiliary nurses in providing home care services is expected to also contribute to this growth. As a result, employment is expected to grow above the average for all occupations.”
Nurses, like everyone else, also age and so more than a third of the positions for LPNs in the coming nine years will come from retirements.
“Pressures arising from these departures are anticipated to be in line with the national average,” notes the COPS website. “Workers in this occupational group are generally younger than in other occupations but tend to retire at an earlier age in their career.”
Although there were already many ways for LPNs to immigrate to Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) added one more pathway for them in May.
That month, the IRCC changed Canada’s Express Entry system to allow it to target 82 jobs in healthcare, technology, trades, transport and agriculture starting this summer –including LPNs – and so opened the door to a new pathway to immigration for them.
The flagship Express Entry selection system had previously only conducted draws based on immigration programs, not by targeting specific occupations.
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“Everywhere I go, I’ve heard loud and clear from employers across the country who are experiencing chronic labour shortages,” said then-Immigration Minister Sean Fraser.
“These changes to the Express Entry system will ensure that they have the skilled workers they need to grow and succeed. We can also grow our economy and help businesses with labour shortages while also increasing the number of French-proficient candidates to help ensure the vitality of French-speaking communities.”
The federal government’s job-hunting and career-planning website, Job Bank, ranks the job prospects of LPNs as very good, its highest rating, over the next three years in Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Manitoba and New Brunswick and as good in Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, British Columbia, and Alberta.
Occupation-Targeted Draws Started For Express Entry Programs This Summer
In Canada, the median hourly wage for LPNs, categorized under the National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021 system with the code 32101, is $28.70 but that varies from a low of $22.59 right up to $33.90, reveals Job Bank.
Based on a 37.5-hour work week, that means an LPN can expect to earn up to $66,105 annually in Canada.
Candidates hoping to immigrate through Express Entry occupation-targeted draws need 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 can have been gained while working in Canada as temporary foreign workers with a work permits or as an international student with a student visa.
Under the changes announced at the end of May, the Express Entry streams, including the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program, Federal Skilled Trades (FST) program and Canadian Experience Class (CEC), as well as parts of the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) are now more responsive to labour market needs.
Canada first signalled its intention to start occupation-specific draws through Express Entry in June last year, when changes were made to the Immigration, Refugee and Protection Act to allow invitations based on occupations and other attributes, such as language ability.
The majority of Canada’s provinces have been issuing occupation-specific invitations for several years.
Under the changes to the act, the immigration minister is required to consult provinces and territories, members of industry, unions, employers, workers, worker advocacy groups, settlement provider organizations, and immigration researchers and practitioners, before announcing new categories.
IRCC must also report to parliament each year on the categories that were chosen and the reason for the choices.
Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) says the number of occupations facing shortages doubled between 2019 and 2021. From 2018 to 2022, federal high skilled admissions accounted for between 34 and 40 per cent of overall French-speaking admissions outside Quebec, which manages its own immigration intake.
