Best Programs For Today’s Careers
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Sustainable construction
A nationwide home-building spree will depend on experts in sustainability
To make housing more affordable in this country, we need more homes. As a way to get those homes, the federal government has announced a massive construction effort that would double the number of homes we currently build each year. But that solution conflicts with another problem—climate change—and butts up against the country’s goal to reach net-zero by 2050. As it stands, 13 per cent of our greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings. These competing desires have supercharged the sustainable construction industry. In this emerging sector, buildings, like houses, commercial centres and industrial warehouses, are built and maintained with sustainable materials and powered with renewable energy such as hydroelectricity, solar power and wind power, as opposed to fossil fuels like coal and natural gas.
Why it’s hot
The global sustainable construction industry was valued at nearly US$500 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow to US$1.2 trillion by 2033. In July, the federal government released its Green Buildings Strategy, with an aim to accelerate retrofits of existing buildings and ensure we are building energy-efficient buildings from the start. Before factoring in building millions of new homes, retrofitting existing buildings would require approximately 57,000 additional construction workers by 2032 according to BuildForce Canada, a market research firm that services the construction industry, at a time when the field is already dealing with labour shortages. According to the Canada Green Building Council, efforts to green Canada’s building sector could create up to 1.5 million jobs and inject $150 billion into Canada’s economy by 2030.
Best programs
Anyone planning to work in the building sector needs to know the basics of sustainable construction. Many traditional building science programs have incorporated disciplines such as energy auditing, industrial design and wind turbine technology into their curriculums. Students who already have a degree or diploma in a field like science, architecture or engineering, and want to specialize in green building, can apply for a one-year graduate certificate, like the environmental building sciences program at Conestoga College’s campus in Cambridge, Ontario. Starting in 2025, Conestoga will offer a four-year bachelor’s degree in sustainable design engineering. In British Columbia, Okanagan College’s Penticton campus offers a two-year sustainable building technology diploma, which prepares students for fields like architectural design of passive houses, construction management of green buildings and energy optimization and modeling. Lambton College in Sarnia, Ontario, offers environmental and sustainable building sciences, a two-year program with a co-op component that teaches students to remediate buildings to reduce energy waste.
Future prospects
Experts say the demand for sustainable buildings will skyrocket in the coming years, intensifying the demand for energy analysts, heat pump specialists, electricians who understand smart homes, and people who can make, install, maintain and interpret photovoltaic solar panels.
To help transition workers, Canadian Colleges for a Resilient Recovery, an initiative focused on promoting post-pandemic economic recovery by teaching new skills to the Canadian workforce, launched Quick Train Canada in 2023. The program offers microcredentials in relevant skills like 3D visualization and carbon mitigation through Canadian colleges in a matter of weeks. Quick Train’s first year was a success—17,000 learners enrolled across high-demand sectors, like sustainable building construction, energy security and sustainability—and more programs are expected to launch this fall.
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Electrician
As Canada goes green, electrical experts will be in high demand
Canada aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, with a federal plan to build an extensive network of charging stations, self-regulating residential towers and carbon-zero homes. But to create this bright future, we need many more electricians.
Why it’s hot
Electricians are in short supply, even without considering the surge in electricians needed to electrify our economy. There were more than 5,200 job vacancies for electricians in Canada in the third quarter of 2022, which is roughly 2,000 more than in the same quarter the year prior, according to Statistics Canada. A large wave of boomers is retiring from the trades, just as the country embarks on a colossal building spree.
Building almost any home requires an electrician; putting up, say, an apartment building can require up to 40. Tana Sullivan, national technical committee media representative at Skills Canada, a non-profit that promotes careers in the trades, says she has never seen such a demand for electricians nationwide; in her home province of New Brunswick, homeowners trying to hire an electrician for small maintenance issues (like fixing a circuit breaker) are unable to find one. The field is so rife with opportunity that some colleges have started teaching evening classes to graduate more electrician students per year. Others are offering free exploration programs, where students can try different trades, like electrical, and move directly from the program to an apprenticeship.
Best programs
Studying to become an electrician typically involves a one- or two-year certificate program, where students learn basic techniques like circuit construction, electrical repair and how to design wiring layouts for both commercial and residential areas. Many students also obtain their Red Seal: a national certification gained after a period of training and examination that ensures excellence in a skilled trade.
Electrical programs typically certify students for one of two categories of jobs: electrician and electrical engineer. Electricians learn to install and fix electrical systems, while electrical engineers are more involved in maintaining them. Some colleges, like Centennial College in Toronto, offer pathways to both careers. The electrician: construction and maintenance—electrical engineering technician co-op program at Centennial is six semesters, and combines apprenticeship training with an engineering technician diploma. Meanwhile, the college’s electrical engineering technician program is just four semesters split between the classroom and the field, which teaches students how to install, test, maintain and troubleshoot electrical circuits and systems. If deciding between electrician and electrical engineer, students should bear in mind that the full electrician certification opens more doors and allows one to take on more work on their own. Students interested in green energy may want to consider the advanced certificate in renewable energy electrical systems installation and maintenance program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s Burnaby campus, which trains students in installing, maintaining and repairing renewable energy sources, like solar panels and windmills.
Future prospects
Electricians can be self-employed, or they can be employed by a contracting company such as a building maintenance department for a warehouse or a corporate tower. The average hourly pay for positions requiring a diploma is $32.35, though wages vary widely. Self-employed electricians in Ontario and Alberta take home approximately $40 per hour. Since electricians are now not only wiring homes but also supercharging our gradual transition to an electric-powered society, there is a growing opportunity for those who specialize in green energy, such as the installation of solar panels, wind turbines, at-home EV chargers and smart home automation software in houses, buildings and industrial warehouses.
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Social service worker
In the aftermath of the pandemic, practitioners with skills in mental health and social service are needed more than ever
Four years after Canada’s first COVID-19 lockdown, the country has found itself in the midst of a mental health crisis. The pandemic itself increased anxiety and depression among many; now, two in five Canadians report that their mental health has been negatively affected by the economic downturn that resulted. Yet gaps in the health-care system leave many Canadians without adequate access to care, both in the short term and in the long term. In Ontario, seven per cent of the health-care budget is devoted to mental health initiatives, even though it makes up 10 per cent of the burden of disease. The growing cost of living has caused the number of people experiencing homelessness in many areas across the country to also grow. It’s estimated that more than 520,000 people living with mental illness are inadequately housed at any given time, and that as many as 119, 800 are without a home at all.
Why it’s hot
While an increase in mental health and socio-economic concerns isn’t something to celebrate, there’s an urgent need for practitioners who can help people navigate these issues through counselling, crisis intervention and community services—and that means jobs. The Canadian government has dedicated $500 million to help community health organizations provide young people with more mental health care, and 59,100 new job openings for social and community service workers are expected nationwide between 2022 and 2031.
Best programs
In contrast to social workers and psychologists, who require a master’s degree, social service worker diploma programs offered by colleges train workers who can get out into the field quickly—some in as little as 10 months—and start making a difference. These programs, like the social service worker program at Humber Polytechnic in Toronto and the social service community worker program at New Brunswick Community College, teach skills on topics such as counselling, anti-oppressive practice, mental health and addiction intervention and crisis intervention. Compared to pursuing a university degree in social work, these programs offer smaller class sizes with more personalized learning experiences and hands-on training to prep students for immediate employment in the field.
Since programs abound, students may want to consider particular specializations available before locking in on a particular college: the diploma program at the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, B.C., for example, includes a stream with an Indigenous focus, where students are equipped with knowledge (including an understanding of the impact of colonization) and skills to work in culturally safe ways with the Indigenous communities in social service agencies and schools. At Langara College in Vancouver, students can pursue a certificate or diploma with a focus on working with seniors. An innovative program at Red River College Polytechnic in Winnipeg offers a tuition-free, 270-hour online shelter support worker microcredential. Students are trained in fundamental skills needed to work in a shelter, specializing in either homelessness or family violence.
Future prospects
Social service workers earn an average of $24.18 per hour and support vulnerable populations, ultimately working to improve their quality of life. Graduates find work in a range of places, such as shelters, addiction centres, long-term care facilities, hospitals, employment service offices, schools and newcomer organizations. A day’s work could include assessing a client’s needs, implementing treatment and behaviour management methods, providing crisis intervention, planning recreational and therapeutic programs and offering emotional support and counselling.
Many colleges maintain relationships with community organizations and social service agencies, and graduates are scooped up quickly, often by organizations they worked at during job placements.
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Nursing
Colleges offer nursing students flexibility and hands-on learning
First, a quick lesson on Canadian nurses: a registered practical nurse, or RPN (sometimes called a licensed practical nurse or LPN) is someone with a two-year diploma who performs basic health care, like monitoring vital signs and administering medication, for patients with straightforward needs. A registered nurse, or RN, is a person with a four-year bachelor’s degree who is trained to care for sick people in ERs, intensive care units or critical care. Both types are highly needed but, historically, RNs graduated from universities while RPNs typically came from colleges. More and more, colleges are taking on the training of registered nurses: in February of 2020, the Ontario government announced changes to nursing education that allowed colleges to offer bachelor of nursing degrees. Several colleges in British Columbia offer bachelor’s degrees in nursing, and bridging programs exist across the country that allow students to start their programs at a college and finish them at a university.
Why it’s hot
Even before the pandemic, nurses were in high demand. The Canadian population is aging rapidly, new hospitals and long-term care homes desperately need staff and experts predict a global shortage of 13 million nurses in the next decade. The pandemic shone a spotlight on the importance of health-care workers and how much they contribute to our communities. “You might think the pandemic would have deterred people from wanting to become nurses, but it didn’t,” says Courtney Evers, associate dean at Niagara College’s school of nursing.
Best programs
Thanks to Ontario’s new legislation, Niagara College, located in Welland, Ontario, is launching an honours bachelor of science in nursing (BScN) degree program this September, adding 60 spots to their usual annual cohort of about 300 RPNs. Students get more than 300 hours of hands-on learning in simulation labs and clinical placements in a variety of settings. Conestoga College, in Kitchener, Ontario, will also be launching a four-year bachelor of nursing program this September.
At Camosun College in Victoria, B.C., students studying to become licensed practical nurses can top up five academic semesters and two spring practicum terms with two years at the University of Victoria to graduate with a baccalaureate of science in nursing (BSN). As a bonus, B.C. recently announced that all nursing students will receive an annual tuition credit of $2,000.
Nursing curricula at colleges are keeping pace with societal changes, and now emphasize mental health, prioritize inclusivity and Indigenous health, consider differences between rural and urban communities and examine the impact of climate change on health, says Sylvain Brousseau, former president of the Canadian Nursing Association. Moreover, the addition of new college programs means a greater capacity to offer more specialized courses in areas like pediatrics, neonatology and oncology, which will appeal to students who want to focus on a particular interest. Enabling nurses to specialize also helps lower the industry’s already high turnover rate, driven even higher by the pandemic. Quebec noted a 10 per cent rise in their usual turnover in 2022, with rates between 14 per cent and 27 per cent depending on the region.
Future prospects
For prospective four-year students choosing a school to study, why pick a college rather than university? Here are a few reasons: tuition that is usually far less at a college, smaller class sizes, more hands-on applied learning and, sometimes, a more flexible schedule than those offered by traditional programs. At Niagara College, for example, the practical nursing diploma offers alternative delivery models to work around a student’s work and home life. The Canadian government knows it will have to do more to attract and retain the nurses we desperately need and, with any luck, nurses will soon be paid for work placements the way doctors are paid for completing their residencies. In April of 2023, the federal government pledged $2.4 million to build a national nurse residency program to help new RNs transition into the workplace.
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Artificial intelligence
No longer the stuff of sci-fi movies, AI is now being used for everything from providing business insights to saving lives
It wasn’t that long ago that ChatGPT launched—late 2022, to be exact—taking the world by surprise with its ability to write prose and answer questions. But, by the first quarter of 2024, one in seven Canadian businesses were using or planned to use generative artificial intelligence. Despite concerns that the rapid advancement of tools like ChatGPT might erode creative fields like writing, music and art, AI has the potential to benefit every sector that relies on knowledge.
Why it’s hot
Twenty years ago, there were few opportunities to explore a career in artificial intelligence, but the technology has quickly advanced in the last decade. Between 2015 and 2019, there was a 270 per cent increase in the number of businesses implementing AI processes worldwide, using it to identify patterns and make predictions about economic trends, for example. The technology’s capabilities are wide-ranging: it can help teachers streamline their work by updating curriculums, recommending content and suggesting ways to bridge knowledge gaps for students. On the medical side, AI tools can help reduce burnout for medical professionals by helping with administrative tasks. Ontario doctors now use AI scribes to transcribe conversations between a doctor and a patient during an appointment, then apply any relevant information to the patient’s medical record.
In the business world, AI has transformed supply chain management by monitoring inventory quality and quantity, analyzing consumer demand and flagging any potential delays. It’s taken over customer service, with AI chatbots using natural language processing, or NLP, to provide responses to consumers’ needs. With technology this powerful, AI needs experts who understand how to use it ethically and harness its potential for positive change.
Best programs
Given the growing demand for experts, many Canadian colleges are now offering programs that teach AI skills that include data analysis, NLP and advanced programming. Most of these programs, like Seneca Polytechnic’s postgraduate certificate in AI, also offer practical, hands-on training in real-world work situations to help prepare students for employment right after they graduate. Examining ethics in AI is also a key component in most programs to help ensure the development of fair and transparent AI systems.
Students looking to advance the use of AI in health care can apply to the Michener Institute of Education’s two-year digital health and data analytics program, which trains students in the areas of digital health and virtual care. Graduates work with hospitals, governments and technology companies to improve patient outcomes. For those interested in using AI to lead businesses to success, the British Columbia Institute of Technology offers an artificial intelligence management option for its two-year diploma program in business information technology management.
Future prospects
Graduates of AI programs have the opportunity to make an impact in a huge variety of jobs, like intelligence analysis and systems specialization, in a wide range of areas, like business and retail. There’s also an increasing demand for AI ethics specialists, as generative AI continues to learn and grow. On the technology side, the job potential is limitless for programmers, cloud application developers and machine learning specialists.
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E-sports management
Gaming becomes a career thanks to innovative new e-sports management programs
Just a few short years ago, imagining e-sports (or electronic sports) as a proper college program was almost unthinkable. “Video games were seen as a vice, not a job,” says Eddie Sargent, associate dean at the Chiu School of Business at Calgary’s Bow Valley College. Fast forward to 2024: several colleges across Canada have not only launched e-sports management programs but even built e-sports arenas to capitalize on the buzzy industry.
Why it’s hot
As usual, money talks. Globally, the video game industry is bigger than the movie and music industries combined, and has been since 2008. Sixteen years later, there are 495 million global followers of games like League of Legends, Call of Duty and Super Smash Bros. Not the number of online gamers themselves: the people who watch them. “It’s no different than fans who watch hockey or any other sport,” says Sargent.
Wherever people gather to do anything, even (and perhaps especially) playing video games, there’s money to be made in administration and operations. Much like sports management, e-sports management programs train all the people who help host various e-sports events, in areas including advertising, ticket sales and merchandise. There’s plenty of opportunity in the industry: revenue from e-sports events are predicted to grow to more than $1.8 billion globally by 2025.
And while Canada is currently lagging behind e-sports leaders like China, Korea, Europe and the United States, we’re catching up fast and furious. “We’re trying to get in at the ground level so that we’re on the map to support some of these huge e-sports events,” says Sargent, who notes that these events, like the Six Invitational, bank millions at a time in the large e-sports facilities that have already popped up in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.
According to data company Statista, the projected revenue in the e-sports market in Canada is expected to reach $186.8 million this year.
Best programs
In January, 18 Bow Valley College students began their inaugural semester of four in e-sports business management at the school’s downtown campus. Among them was 34-year-old Nicholas Lutterodt, who travelled all the way from Ghana for the innovative program. Lutterodt often finds himself explaining to strangers that, despite what they may think about gaming, it’s not all play and no work. “It’s much more about business than video games,” he says.
While Lutterodt and his classmates do have access to some exciting state-of-the-art perks, like gaming stations, streaming and broadcasting equipment and an e-sports arena, the courses on the syllabus are not unlike those you’d find in any other business program: microeconomics, financial accounting, business strategy and entrepreneurship. Similar e-sports programs have popped up in Quebec, Nova Scotia and Ontario, including Mohawk College’s e-sports administration diploma in Hamilton. Mohawk had more than 100 applicants for their 35 spots in the fall of 2023, and like Bow Valley, has a formalized growth plan for the next five years.
Future prospects
Andrew Fedurko, who created the new program at Mohawk College, predicts that e-sports will be a powerhouse industry on par with the NFL within a decade. E-sports management grads are expected to land gigs in event coordinating, e-sports journalism, public relations, game analysis and broadcast production. Programs will grow alongside the industry itself, which is morphing into a surprisingly diverse and egalitarian space.
Members of the student body earning a Mohawk e-sports diploma include those with business degrees looking to specialize and those coming right out of high school. It includes domestic and international students like Lutterodt, young people and mature students, and there’s—perhaps surprisingly—a balanced gender ratio too. “We’ve got about a 50/50 male and female split and lots of diversity,” says Fedurko. Wherever they come from or look like, they’ve got this exciting sentiment in common: video games can be a career, not just a hobby.
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