Recruiters from British Columbia are hoping to hire up to a hundred people at a jobs expo in Cork today. A similar number were hired for work in western Canada at the Dublin Jobs Expo over the weekend.
Workers could be in British Columbia in two weeks as a result of streamlined procedures agreed this year with Canadian provincial and federal governments.
British Columbia Construction Association vice-president Abigail Fulton said she was confident she would recruit more people as a result of events in Cork today and Belfast on Thursday. Ms Fulton said Irish craft workers had a very high reputation in Canada and as these recruits arrived, it would stimulate demand for more.
The association said 2,000 vacancies would arise in British Columbia over the next couple of years while up to 20,000 vacancies needed to be filled over the longer term.