Job prospects Journeyman/woman Carpenter in Québec

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "journeyman/woman carpenter" in Québec or across Canada.

Job opportunities in Québec

These outlooks were updated on December 11, 2024.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be limited for Carpenters (NOC 72310) in Quebec for the 2024-2026 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of new positions.
• Not many positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are several unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

Employment in this occupation primarily depends on activity in the construction industry, particularly in residential construction and the institutional and commercial sectors.

After the sharp drop in the number of housing starts in 2022 and 2023, residential construction should gradually resume in line with falling interest rates. The housing demand, which is already very high, has intensified recently due to the population growth from permanent and temporary immigration. In the short term, the increase in housing starts will essentially come from rental units considering the strong demand throughout Quebec for this segment and the measures implemented by governments and municipalities to fast track project delivery. However, the pace of recovery may be slower due to the uncertainty surrounding the residual effects of the economic slowdown.

With a high level of activity in recent years, in the institutional sector, there are still many projects thanks to public investments in infrastructure, especially in health and education. Budgetary constraints could, however, slow down the start of some projects. The commercial sector continues to be disadvantaged by the uncertain pace of the economic recovery. Changes in consumer habits and high vacancy rates in office buildings are also affecting the sector.

Here are some key facts about Carpenters in Quebec:

• Approximately 39,500 people work in this occupation.
• Carpenters mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Construction (NAICS 23): 90%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 94% compared to 82% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 6% compared to 18% for all occupations
• 39% of carpenters work all year, while 61% work only part of the year, compared to 62% and 38% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 41 weeks compared to 43 weeks for all occupations.
• 17% of carpenters are self-employed compared to an average of 12% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: more than 95% compared to 52% for all occupations
  • Women: less than 5% compared to 48% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: 10% compared to 12% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: 14% compared to 19% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: 65% compared to 19% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 9% compared to 22% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: less than 5% compared to 17% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: less than 5% compared to 11% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in Québec by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology

Job prospects elsewhere in Canada

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "journeyman/woman carpenter" in Québec or across Canada.

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