Irish moving to remote Canadian area of Saskatchewan to start new lives

Canadian province alluring for Irish desperately looking for work

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Sinead and Howard Morrissey with their daughter Cara. The family moved from Tipperary to Saskatchewan province in Canada in 2010.

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Michael Fougere, the president of the Saskatchewan Construction Association, fears  that a lack of skilled workers will slow the economy down. “This is a huge issue for us. If we don’t find people to do the work, we will slow down. We need carpenters, electricians, engineers and people in every area of construction.”

“We have asked the government to lift the cap on skilled workers but they have so far refused to give us more and this is a constraint for us.”

In nearby Calgary in the neighboring province of Alberta, the economy is facing the same issues - economic growth and a demand in workforce, but limits restricting the amount of immigrant workers.

Calgary Economic Development is looking to the UK and US to fill an approximate 114,000 jobs to be created over the next 10 years. They are currently finalizing details of a trip to Ireland in October where a range of Alberta’s employers will try to entice Irish workers to the region.

While the promise of high workforce demand is undoubtedly alluring for many Irish, the transition to the provinces in Canada may prove difficult. A harsh difference in weather - plummeting temperatures in the winter and the opposite in the summer - could be tough to handle coming from temperate Ireland.

However, many Canadian groups – from the immigration authorities, to employers, to Irish workers on the ground – are pulling together to help people transition smoothly into their new lives. There is a real sense that the Irish are not only needed, but wanted.

Paul Farrell emigrated to Saskatchewan after attending an abroad job fair in Ireland. His business wasn’t helping to pay the bills as the recession tightened, and happened to learn about the promise of Canada at the fair.

“The whole immigration process was very, very good. After the fair, I got in contact with Saskatchewan immigration, and they took care of it all,” said Farrell, who noted to the change in lifestyle was an adjustment, but that he is growing to quite like it.

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