If you've ever flown over Canada you will have got a feeling for its vast size. If you haven't, you simply need to look at the figures: almost a million square miles of mountains, prairies, lakes, fiords and rivers. A large country – the world's second largest – in both size and spirit, Canada's booming economy and shortage of skilled workers means it puts out the welcome mat for newcomers from throughout the world. This special feature will allow you not only to decide whether it's the place for you but also to assess whether you would make the grade as a new Canadian.

Canada has huge natural resources and is a sparsely populated country – just 3.3 people per sq km compared to the United States (29.1), the UK (242) and Japan (335.3).

For the record – and to demonstrate just how much space there is for you – the tiny territory of Macau, the former Portuguese colony but now a province of China, has the world's highest density at 17,684 per sq km while, at the other end of the scale, Namibia has just two.

Canada is a country of outstanding natural beauty offering a high standard of living and unlimited outdoor adventures and cosmopolitan cities.

It consists of 10 provinces and three territories in five main regions: the Atlantic region, Central Canada, the Prairies, the West Coast and the North.

The major difference between a Canadian province and a territory is that a province receives powers directly from the Constitution Act, 1867, giving them greater competences and rights than a territory, which is delegated powers by the federal government.

The culture and population are different in each region.

The Atlantic region consists of the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Activities such as fishing, farming, forestry, tourism and mining are important to the Atlantic economy.

Central Canada consists of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. This is the most populated region of the country. Together, Ontario and Quebec produce more than three-quarters of all Canadian manufactured goods.

The Prairies include the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Much of the land is flat and fertile, excellent for farming and rich in energy resources. In western Alberta, the Prairies end and the Rocky Mountains begin. The Canadian Rockies include some of the largest peaks in North America.

On the West Coast, the province of British Columbia is famous for its mountain ranges and forests. Natural resources such as lumber and fish are important to the economy. Fruit farming is also a major industry, as is tourism.

The North consists of Canada's three territories: Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Together, they make up over one-third of Canada's land mass. Northern resources include oil, natural gas, gold, lead and zinc.

Canada's provincial government have a great deal of power relative to the federal government, with jurisdiction over such areas as healthcare, education and welfare. They receive a portion of taxes paid to the federal government, as well as exacting their own taxes.

A bit of history

Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia comprise the original provinces, when Canada gained independence from Great Britain in 1867. Over the following six years, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island were added as provinces.

The Hudson's Bay Company maintained control of large swaths of western Canada, until 1870 when it turned over the land to the government, forming part of the North-West Territories. In 1905, the portion of the North-West Territories south of the 60° parallel became the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

In 1869, Newfoundland and Labrador decided in an election to remain a British territory, over concerns that central Canada would dominate when it comes to taxation and economic issues. In 1907, Newfoundland and Labrador acquired dominion status.

However, in 1933, the government of Newfoundland fell and during World War II, Canada took charge of Newfoundland's defence. Following World War II, Newfoundland's status was in question. In 1948, and by a narrow majority, the citizens of Newfoundland and Labrador voted for confederation and in the following year Newfoundland and Labrador became Canada's tenth province.

Immigration

Canada welcomes huge numbers of immigrants – about a quarter of a million a year.

Between 1956 and 1976, 63.6 per cent of immigrants came from the UK and Europe and only 11.9 per cent from Asia. By 2004, however, the flows had almost completely flipped, with only 17.8 per cent of immigrants coming from the UK and Europe and 48.6 per cent from the countries of South, East and Southeast Asia.

As to types of immigrants, in 2004 56.7 per cent of admissions were in the independent or economic class and 26.4 per cent were in the family reunification class.

When it comes to the numbers of investors, entrepreneurs and the self-employed admitted Britain comes sixth with 1,986 visas (2.5 per cent) after Hong Kong (25,422), Taiwan (11,959), South Korea (7,179), China (4,970) and Germany (2,161).

Why more immigrants?

There are two main reasons Canada needs a continuous flow of immigrants. In fact there are three if you include the country's low fertility rate of 1.6 children per woman – well below the ‘replacement' rate of 2.1

The fertility rate was three children or more per woman from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s. It then fell rapidly, and has remained below the rate for natural replacement for the last 30 years.

The other reasons are the advancing ages of the workforce and a serious worker shortages in a number of fields, particularly in construction but also including engineers, doctors and nurses.

Paul Darby, director of the Conference Board of Canada, estimates a shortfall of three million skilled workers by the year 2020 and, according to a survey by Canada's Federation of Independent Business, one out of 20 jobs remains unfilled because of an inability to find suitably skilled labour.

This, it says, represents about 250,000 to 300,000 vacant jobs in small- and medium-sized businesses alone. The worst off are employers looking for skilled construction workers who reported 7.7 per cent of jobs are going unfilled. Business services and agriculture sectors are also suffering, particularly in Manitoba, Ontario and Alberta.

In a year (2005) distinguished by rapid growth in industries such as construction, oil and gas, and services, the kind of workers most in demand now are the skilled trades, according to Cheri Tredree, national recruitment manager with Manpower Canada.

"That is the case right across Canada, but the highest demand is in Alberta," she adds.

She says skilled trades encompasses a variety of roles from welders and carpenters to hairdressers and chefs.

In the latest Statistics Canada labour force survey, the construction industry had the third-highest growth rate of all sectors in 2005. By the end of November, employment in the industry was up 5.7 per cent for the entire country.

The educational services industry led in job growth, increasing by 8.4 per cent by December, 2005, and agriculture ranked second at 8.3 per cent.

These three sectors are well ahead of the national average for employment growth rate of 1.4 per cent.

The StatsCan report indicates the biggest job expansion is taking place in British Columbia, with a job growth rate of 3.8 per cent, more than double the national average.

Helping to fill vacancies in Alberta is what is consuming Ms. Tredree's time. "We're unbelievably busy in Alberta. There are jobs to fill in every industry out there."

Construction industry

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported in January that 2006 will be the sixth consecutive year that housing starts will exceed 200,000, putting additional strain on the tight construction labour force.

The problem is particularly acute in Western Canada, where home builders have to compete with higher-paying, non-residential projects in the Alberta oil fields and construction for the 2010 Olympics.

The British Columbia Construction Association says that 50 per cent more workers in the industry are needed to fill the shortage. This represents an additional 60,000 people than are currently employed in the sector.

"We don't have enough of the skilled trades necessary just to carry out the functional construction tasks," says economics professor at Simon Fraser University, Lindsay Meredith.

The CEO of the Vancouver Organising Committee (VANOC) has also warned that a major provincial construction boom and the 2010 Summer Olympics is leading to a serious shortage of qualified construction workers in Canada's most western province.

The labour shortage is expected to continue well after the Olympics, according to the BC Construction Association. "We're very conscious of a shortage of skilled workers," says the association's vice-president Manley McLachlan.

In response to the growing demand for qualified construction trades people, BC is now actively looking outside of its borders. "I know contractors that have been to Europe; they've conducted job fairs in England, France, Belgium, and other parts of Europe," says McLachlan.

Construction is a $130-billion a year industry that accounts for more than 12 per cent of Canada's economy and employment reaching a record high of more than one million people last year. One out of every 17 Canadians makes a living from construction, according to the Construction Sector Council.

"Many workers are nearing retirement so the odds are pretty good that the demand for skilled construction workers will remain high," it says.

Vancouver is one of the many provincial and territorial governments that have initiated procedures to fast-track citizenship applications from skilled workers under the Provincial Nominee Program, which allows them to nominate a person for a permanent resident visa on the grounds that the individual's skills are in particular demand.

Smaller communities in rural Canada struggle to attract immigrant workers since most flock to the big cities – about 60 per cent to Toronto, 15 per cent to Vancouver and 13 per cent to Montreal in 2003.

Fighting for workers

The migration of workers attracted to the booming economies of Alberta and BC are hurting neighbouring Saskatchewan's economic revival where soaring revenue from oil, gas, potash and uranium have created a serious worker shortage.

Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce president Ted Hillstead says labour shortages are restraining economic growth in the province.

"I'm hearing from our members right across the board that this labour issue is affecting many of them. There are some that have chosen not to expand and not to go into new products because of the lack of skilled labour."

He's referring to smaller companies without the resources to recruit from overseas.

"We're looking at a whole immigration strategy to increase the number of people from outside of Canada to come to Saskatchewan," Hillstead says.

Larger companies, such as Saskatoon-based Hitachi Canadian Industries Ltd. – a division of Japanese giant Hitachi Ltd. – have these resources and are able to look abroad, hiring, in its case, skilled tradespeople from the UK that it needs to fabricate such products as high-pressure vessels for the oil industry and towers used in wind-generated energy.

Those who choose to move to Saskatchewan, Canada's breadbasket, are reaping the benefits. According to the think tank, the CanadaWest Foundation [see below], in December 2005 the average hourly wage rose to $17.77 an hour, 5.5 per cent above the rate paid a year earlier, topping the national average increase of 3.8 per cent. The rate of increase was "particularly strong for older workers," (55+) with an average hourly wage of $19.76 per hour, an increase almost nine per cent during this period.

Hitachi says it has had to sweeten its compensation packages to attract workers.

Canada's oldies

Seniors, as Canada calls its elderly citizens, constitute the fastest growing population group. The proportion of seniors in the overall population went from one in 20 in 1921, to one in eight in 2001 when it was estimated that 3.92 million Canadians were 65 years of age or older, two-thirds more than in 1981.

As the "baby boomers" (born between 1946 and 1965) age, the seniors population is expected to reach 6.7 million in 2021 and 9.2 million in 2041 (nearly one in four Canadians). In fact, the growth of the seniors population will account for close to half of the growth of the overall Canadian population in the next four decades.

In 2001, over 430,000 Canadians were 85 years of age or older – more than twice as many as in 1981, and more than 20 times as many as in 1921. The proportion of Canadians aged 85 or more is expected to grow to 1.6 million in 2041.

The West's the place to be

By almost any yardstick – unemployment rates, GDP growth, capital investment, rising wages – the West is the place to be in Canada, according to the think tank, the CanadaWest Foundation.

The foundation's chief economist Todd Hirsch writes:

"While central and eastern Canada struggle with a sluggish manufacturing sector and weak employment growth, the West is roaring ahead.

"Large-scale construction activity is revitalising downtown Winnipeg. Expansions of uranium and potash mines are planned across Saskatchewan. Calgary bustles as it scrambles to keep up with housing demand. The lower mainland of British Columbia is being transformed with massive new transportation and infrastructure projects.

"It is important to note, however, that while the economy of the West as a whole is performing well, the same cannot be said of all individual regions or sectors in the West. Manitoba's economic growth is barely keeping up with the national average. Pockets of the BC interior and coastal region, ranching communities in Alberta and Saskatchewan, and companies exporting non-resource commodities have been struggling. For the most part, though, the times are good.

"Prices for most of the West's natural resources are currently enjoying lofty heights. Prices for crude oil, natural gas, lumber, coal, base metals, uranium, hydro and potash are being lifted by strong world demand. Even prices for most cereal and oilseed crops are decent."

The challenge, writes Hirsch, is for policy-makers to sustain the boom.

"Economic booms like this one are rare. Let's seize this chance to propel the West into a whole new era of natural resource extraction – the resources of our ideas, our research and our creativity."