“They go to Australia to party and come here for professional development,” says Vancouver-based immigration lawyer Niall Carry. The Co Meath man and former social worker followed a path Down Under before moving to Canada 15 years ago and later becoming a citizen.
Canada is one of the top destinations for Irish people moving abroad, with numbers arriving from the Republic at a rate of 5,000 per year, Central Statistics Office (CSO) data shows. Canada was last year just behind the US (6,100) in popularity for Irish emigrants, and was slightly ahead of it in 2024.
The working holiday visa, allowing 18- to 35-year-olds to work for two years, is one of the key draws to this vast country, with a land mass bigger than the US (but one eighth of the population).
The country offers young Irish people opportunities for career progression, a strong economy, an outdoor and active lifestyle, and a stable society with liberal values. Amid global inflation, spending power has remained stable, with wage growth outpacing inflation for the last three years according to its government’s spring economic update.
RM Block
Canada is a steady option for Irish “seeking adventure or career growth”, says Irish man Ruairi Spillane, founder of immigrant information site Moving2Canada.com.
When he started the website, “it was horror stories of Irish families leaving the keys of their house behind in negative-equity situations, but now we’re at a point where emigration is optional and there are strong Irish communities from coast to coast for those than want to explore Canada”.
Job opportunities are good, and Irish have “an excellent reputation in Canada and are highly desired by employers”, says Spillane.
Irish arrivals now seem to be settling and staying long term. “Previously, Irish couples were returning [home] to have kids, but now they seem increasingly confident that they have a strong enough support network through each other,” says Spillane.
There are downsides to this Commonwealth country, however, especially for new arrivals. It may not suit an Irish attitude of figuring life out on the fly, with experts warning about the need to prepare before heading there, of red tape varying between its 10 provinces, slow and different recruitment processes, and expensive living in the main cities.
Irish Times Abroad has spoken to experts and immigrants on what to consider if thinking about a move to the Land of the Maple.
Irish in Canada by numbers
How many people move from the Republic of Ireland to Canada every year?
- 5,100 in the year to April 2025
How many Irish-born people people live in Canada?
Where do the Irish-born people live?
- 49% live in Ontario
- 25% in British Colombia
- 14% in Alberta
Where do more recent Irish-born arrivals live (2016-2021)
- Ontario: 25%
- British Colombia: 38%
- Alberta: 16%
How many Canadians have Irish ancestry?
Is Mark Carney an Irish citizen?
How to get a work visa
Canada is the only one of the 10 countries with which Ireland has reciprocal youth visa arrangements to automatically allow more than a one-year stay. Those aged 18-35 can apply to travel and work in Canada for up to two years with the International Experience Canada (IEC) programme.
However, the number of IEC visas available to Irish people has been dropping steadily in recent years, says Spillane.
“In 2023, we had 10,000 two-year work permits issued, 2024 saw 6,500, 2025 has around 3,800 – so Ireland’s quota for 2026 is 3,800,” he says.
While it feels to him as if the population of young Irish has “peaked” and the number of newcomers is declining a little, “the numbers of Irish staying on longer-term is likely increasing”.
But there are still more than 4,000 visas available when all IEC programmes are included, and working holiday, international co-operation (student internships) and young professional (employer-specific work permit requiring job offer) arrangements, says Cathy Murphy, executive director of I/CAN (Irish Canadian Immigration Centre). Set up in 2012 to assist new Irish arrivals in Canada, it covers everything from employment workshops to community outreach.
“We don’t have the 10,000 [arrivals] we saw in 2015, but there is still a lot coming here,” says Murphy.
By mid-May this year, more than 4,000 Irish people had been invited to apply for a working holiday visa (for 18- to 35-year-olds). This number is higher than the quota because many won’t complete the process. Within 20 days of getting an invite to apply, participants should submit documentation including police certificates and proof of necessary funds (CA$2,500 - €1,500). New arrivals will also need two years of health insurance and enough money for a return ticket.
Many people don’t realise it’s possible for families (spouses/partners and children) to come with them on an IEC, says Carry. However, they may need to apply for different visas as visitors or students. He advises those bringing family to plan ahead and seek advice.
There is an opportunity for people from Northern Ireland, who can hold dual British-Irish citizenship, to get five years of visa cover using both passports. British citizens can get a one-year extension to their visa.
Staying long term
Immigrants on working holiday visas should start thinking about their long-term plans and about applying for permanent residency when they arrive, says Carry.
“Transitioning to permanent residency is becoming harder, making it critical for Irish newcomers to plan for the longer term on arrival, even if you decide to move on after two years,” says Spillane. Many only fully appreciate Canada after a year and if they don’t take action until 18 months, it’s too late.
Thinking about your long term plan is hard if you’re 22. “Two years goes quickly, but there’s not always an obvious path to stay longer,” says Murphy. People can become “terribly disappointed when they can’t stay” she says. Sponsorships “barely exist”.
There are some options for those over 36 who want to move to the Great White North, including the Express Entry federal skilled workers programme, a points-based process for experienced workers in certain in-demand professions including education, healthcare, trades, and STEM professionals.
Options for a path to permanency from a working holiday visa include Express Entry (Canadian Experience Class) for those with a year of Canadian experience, the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) for people with particular skills, and through employers via the Labour Market Impact Assessment-based work permit.
Doireann Ní Siochrú: How does the working holiday visa process work?
What about getting a job?
Canada’s economy remains strong, despite what Canadian prime minister and ex-Irish passport holder Mark Carney described as the “rupture” of the “rules-based international order”. Canada shares a border with 13 US states, making it the longest international border in the world at almost 9,000km.
Canada is forecast to have the second highest GDP growth in the G7 for the next two years, according to the IMF. Since last year, it added three times as many jobs per capita as the US. Carney sees Ireland as an important bridge with Europe, with a trade deal between Canada and the EU set to be ratified.
However, the unemployment rate in British Columbia, (BC) has risen to a 10-year high in recent months, with the biggest job losses in sectors that are sensitive to household spending, tourism and fuel prices, and youth employment rates particularly affected.
The backbone of the economy is services and the finance industry, with key employment growth areas in health; finance and insurance and leasing; construction and professional; and scientific and technical services.
While the AI boom is disrupting the tech sector worldwide, it’s providing particular opportunities for Irish people who may have unique experience in building data centres. “Lots of Canadian construction companies contact me seeking Irish with data centre construction [knowhow],” says Spillane, who also founded Outpost Recruitment.
Construction is “still the big one” for Irish immigrant jobs in building and infrastructure projects. “The Irish construction workers are highly sought-after due to their excellent work ethic and communication skills,” he says.
Slow application process
New arrivals are often surprised at the slow pace of responses to job applications, Carry says. “It could be two or three months and you don’t hear anything [about applications] – then all of a sudden you will have a slew of interviews.”
Many of those arriving are graduates in financial services or with high-level trade and construction skills (QS and quantity surveyors), says Murphy.
Landing a “career role” can take several months, and even then, people should expect this will be a “slight step back” from where they were back home. This “different hiring culture” can cause a lot of anxiety, she says.
Taking a ‘joe job’ to start
New arrivals should consider getting a “joe job”, relatively menial work such as barista or barback (bartender support) jobs, to tide them over while they look for a career role, says Murphy.
“You have to take a job to get Canadian experience on your resumé,” and if people have very particular professional experience “it will take time”, says Carry. New emigrants should “take what you can... this place is really expensive” says Carry. He recalls an Irish lawyer who took an ice cream van job which gave her Canadian experience for her CV, and eventually got legal work. “There will be frustration... but there are a lot of really good jobs.”
People will find once they “get their foot in the door” they move “faster and higher” than they would have in Ireland, where they might have got stuck at a certain level, says Murphy.
Prepare before you go
The jobs market in Canada is “hidden”, so people need to do research before they leave Ireland, says Murphy. Preparing before you go, from checklists to joining employment webinars, is key, Murphy adds.
Navigating the red tape before leaving can really help. For example, while there is a shortage of nurses in Canada, nurses do need to apply for official recognition, which can take six months, says Murphy. Similarly, registration is also required for teachers. But there are opportunities too for Irish teachers “due to their Catholic schools experience” says Spillane. Canada may have opportunities in the legal field thanks to its common law system, but such work requires registration and potentially further training.
Many companies won’t hire people until after they have arrived in Canada and their work permit has been issued, says Carry. But those working for multinationals may be able to seek a transfer for certain jobs.
From networking to workplace banter
The need to get out there and network can come as a shock to Irish workers, and arrivals should use Irish contacts, Irish chambers of commerce and Irish embassy breakfast briefings to this end, says Carry.
LinkedIn is huge in Canada, so having a strong, up-to-date page following people from different sectors is essential, he says. He urges people not to be “humble” or to “sell yourself short”. CVs should be “Canadianised” to be “concise on a page”, and with a Canadian phone number. It’s important to know the hiring manager, so it’s worth reaching out to people for coffee, says Murphy.
Other key differences working in Canada include less annual leave (two weeks per year to start, but with a dozen bank holidays), and employees have to file their own taxes.
Work culture is very different too, says Carry. “At home [in Ireland] I have best friends from jobs... In BC [British Columbia], a lot of people keep to themselves.”
Irish people also need to be aware that a culture of slagging, banter and joking at work colleagues’ expense can look to Canadians “like bullying”, and “people can end up being called to HR”. Irish people can have a “crude” sense of humour, but “you’ve got to know your audience”, he says.
Doireann Ní Siochrú: LinkedIn was a key tool
Where to move
Canada’s 2021 census shows 29,300 people born in Ireland were living in the country (this excludes many from Northern Ireland who were included in UK figures). But patterns of emigration from Ireland have focused on the three most populous English-speaking provinces in Canada.
Almost half of Irish-born emigrants (49 per cent) live in east coast Ontario (including Toronto), with a quarter in west coast British Columbia (including Vancouver) and 14 per cent in landlocked western province Alberta (Edmonton and Calgary), which runs from the Rocky Mountains to the prairies. Just 2 per cent have settled in French-speaking Quebec.
However, since 2010, there has been a switch in settlement patterns, with more Irish settling in BC than in Ontario (of 6,355 arrivals from 2016 to 2021, 38 per cent live in BC and 35 per cent in Ontario).
Vancouver: Nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the mountains, this diverse west coast port city has a population of 750,000, while the wider metropolitan district has more than 3 million residents. It is popular for those who love the great outdoors and boasts some 300 parks, beaches and gardens. It’s also less than a three-hour drive to Seattle in Washington state in the US.
Toronto: The city is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario, which shares a border with New York state and is about 100km from Niagara Falls. This southeastern city is Canada’s most populous, at 3.2 million (with 7 million altogether in the greater metropolitan area). It’s more southerly than several US states and is on the same latitude as Florence, Italy.
The high cost of living means a lot of people are leaving Vancouver, and costs are making getting by more difficult in bigger cities, says Murphy. Some immigrants are instead choosing smaller and more affordable cities.
“I suspect there are more Irish in Vancouver now than Toronto. While lots of Irish stayed in locations like Calgary, Edmonton, Regina and Saskatoon, there are emerging Irish communities in smaller regional locations like Ottawa, Kelowna, Victoria,” says Spillane.
Canada’s 10 provinces span six different time zones and it takes some 60 hours to drive coast to coast, so critical factors such as weather, geography, economies, costs and employment opportunities vary significantly.
“People should do research before they go because the cities and areas are so different,” says Murphy. Looking at unemployment rates and sectoral opportunities in their areas of interest is key to this.
Murphy, based in Toronto, says there is an “excellent quality of life”, but it’s not a “party city”.
Both Murphy and Carry advise potential immigrants to think about the weather, which varies hugely – from extreme winter cold of -35 in northern Canada to summer highs of 30 in the prairies.
While summers in Vancouver are warm, they’re not as humid as summers in Montreal or Toronto. All have summer averages in the mid to low 20s. The more inland you go, the more extreme conditions get, while in the prairies there can be more wind chill, Carry says.
Vancouver winters are more like those in Ireland – mild, rainy, at 3 to 7 degrees, while in Toronto there’s regular snowfall, with winter averages of -7 to zero degrees. French-speaking Montreal has long, harsh winters with temperatures dropping to -20 regularly. The cold there “gets into your bones”, says Carry.
Housing and costs
The cost of living is “not much better than Ireland” and some of the most expensive in North America, says Murphy, so people will need to bring three times more than they think if they want a seamless experience. While the working holiday visa mandates $2,500 and enough for a return ticket, “it’s not enough” she says.
Housing is still a big issue, says Murphy. “We do have a housing crisis, but not as acute as in Ireland”. It’s still hard to afford an apartment on a single wage in a big city, but affordable if you have a decent job, she says.
Rents fell last year across Canada, but are still highest in Vancouver and Toronto, at $2,550-$2,700 (€1,500-€1,700) monthly. However, they are still about €1,000 cheaper in Dublin, where a two-bed averages €2,696, according to the latest Daft report.
Arrivals will need two months’ rent and a damage deposit. However, they may also need to take a short-term let on arrival. Once you have a job, it’s easier to get a landlord to rent to you, says Carry.
Unlike in Ireland, many rental places come unfurnished, so new arrivals will need to budget for furniture – with Ikea, goodwill centres and Facebook pages of Irish people in Canada all cheaper options.
While the average monthly salary is roughly €600 less in Canada than in Ireland, stark differences in rent mean people may still have more purchasing power. In Ireland, weekly pay averages at €1,011, CSO data shows, while in Canada it stands at $1,316 (€813), according to Statistics Canada.
Katrina Masters: You don’t have the whole house
Social life
Irish communities
Almost every city will have an Irish presence, says Carry, from GAA clubs [there’s 31 of them], to groups for new families, Irish-run soccer clubs, and Irish chambers of commerce [six across Canada].
The Irish people who seem to do better in Canada will be those participating in Irish-related activities and non-Irish, for instance through Canadian sports clubs or volunteering with theatre groups. “It’s important to have that balance,” says Murphy.
Sports and activities
The most popular ways to keep active are swimming, cycling, running, ice hockey and soccer, according to a Statistics Canada survey. In terms of winter sports, ice hockey, skiing, skating and snowboarding are popular.
Dating and friends
People in Canada can be “more reserved” than the Irish and it “takes time” to get to know them, but they are really nice when you do, says Carry.
Dating culture in Canada is very different – a lot of people meet through online dating rather than out socially, says Carry, who met his own wife online.
Social deprivation
For Carry, a former social worker, the level of social deprivation lies in sharp contrast to that found in Ireland. The amount of homeless people on the streets‚ especially in cold weather, and for such a rich country, is a culture shock. “The dole and social housing just about exists here,” he says.
He also notes the “horrible” epidemic of the drug fentanyl, which is killing many hundreds. Of 1,800 BC deaths from illegal drugs in 2025, more than two-thirds had fentanyl in their systems, according to the BC coroner’s service.
Doireann Ní Siochrú: It took courage to meet people
Katrina Masters: People are more guarded
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