With 2026 in full swing, we’re sharing our perspective on some of the hottest niches and roles that supply chain leaders are hoping to fill.

At Argentus, we sit at the nexus of candidates looking for roles, and companies looking to hire. As a specialist recruiter in supply chain management and procurement, we’re the boots on the ground in a number of hiring markets across Canada, so we have a ground-level view of what the hiring picture looks like in the field.

So to kick off 2026, we’re going to take a look at the hiring picture in the supply chain industry, and share our perspective on some of the hottest areas in the market. 

Broadly speaking, the market remains tight for supply chain professionals across Canada. The current tariff regime has been in place for months, but Canada’s most recent labour force survey was strong, with the country posting 54,000 new positions in November. Supply chain professionals are in particular demand, which is no surprise. Companies are looking to build resilience in the face of economic and tariff uncertainty, and supply chain professionals are contributing huge value in terms of setting supplier strategy and navigating the complex web of tariff obligations and exposure. 

Within this larger picture, a few trends are emerging, which we will highlight below. The supply chain profession continues to evolve, and the skillsets needed are evolving as well. It’s difficult to find candidates who can truly drive strategy in these areas—and even more difficult to secure that talent once it’s been identified. In an uncertain market, many candidates will only make a move for the absolute right opportunity—and counter-offers as well as competing offers remain a barrier to hiring at the offer stage. 

It’s a complex, fascinating mix. So read on to see which areas are in highest demand! 

A small caveat: while we work exclusively in the supply chain and procurement industries, this isn’t an exhaustive list. We’re a small team, and we work on a focused set of roles at any given time. That being said, we speak with candidates and companies looking to hire in the industry every day, and this represents areas where we’re seeing the most activity. 

1. Direct Procurement for Manufacturing roles:

This was a major focal point for our clients in 2025, and continues in 2026. Manufacturers are looking for procurement candidates who can drive overall commodity and raw material strategy in an uncertain market. Just cutting POs will no longer cut it. Manufacturing buyers used to be concerned with just getting the right raw material at the right time, from a stable supplier base. In today’s market, with constantly evolving trade disputes and supply chain disruptions, commodity strategy is much more complex. 

Companies want more senior candidates who can deeply understand complex engineering requirements, and then negotiate strategic agreements with suppliers that provide resilience, agility, and innovation in their manufacturing process—and they’re willing to pay handsomely for those senior candidates who can execute. 

2. IT Procurement roles:

IT procurement has long been critical, whether you’re a company who manufactures or distributes a physical product, or a company with considerable indirect spend. But over the past few years, IT has come to dominate the indirect side of procurement. It used to be that someone could work at a bank, technology company or government agency and procure facilities, logistics, travel, HR and professional services without touching IT. 

Now, all of these services have an IT component, whether it’s an online loyalty platform for staff, or a new logistics platform to manage shipments, to give a few examples. The IT procurement skillset is dominating indirect procurement, and companies are looking for people with a strong understanding of the technical requirements, and a good backing in contract management to be able to execute IT contracts with minimal oversight from legal departments. These roles are in very high demand, whether it’s at the executional level, or at the level of designing strategy and process for IT procurement across organizations. 

3. Cross-border Freight and Customs Roles:

Here’s another area where trade instability is increasing demand. Companies in distribution, manufacturing and retail have always needed candidates who can manage freight forwarders, customs and other important documentation. But in 2026, these areas are more complex—and more fraught—than ever before. Navigating CUSMA compliance, import and export regulations is complex enough in normal times. With new trade actions in the headlines every day, companies are investing in people who can get more strategic and manage a shifting landscape. 

4. Capital Expenditure and Construction (Private and Public Sector):

Governments across Canada are betting big on infrastructure. The federal government has announced massive new infrastructure spending, and that’s trickling down to provinces and municipalities who have already spent the past few years ramping up construction to meet the needs of Canada’s growing population. In the private sector, companies are investing in more Canadian manufacturing to avoid tariff exposure and other global risks. 

These factors combine into a landscape where CapEx and EPC construction are tremendously valuable procurement categories. Organizations are keen on candidates who can deliver large-scale, high-value construction projects from a supplier negotiation, contracting and project management standpoint. As with the above categories, the top-flight candidates in these areas remain hard to come by, and even harder to dislodge from their current roles. 

5. Supply Chain Leadership and Transformational roles:

These roles have been in high demand for years. They’re consistently one of the most common needs for our clients. Across industries and geographic markets, companies are looking for high-impact supply chain leaders who can build—whether they’re building teams, processes or technologies. Many scaling startups are trying to get a true supply chain leader in place early in their growth, but others have grown and found that they lack the strategic supply chain to stay nimble in a changing market, which opens them up to huge risk. 

For established companies, many legacy organizations have strong business fundamentals, but find that they lack the supply chain processes to take them to the next level. Maybe they’re still using Excel instead of a modern ERP system, or they’ve adopted an ERP that isn’t getting used. Maybe they’re a multi-site organization that hasn’t aligned processes across sites. Whatever the specific need, companies are looking for high-achieving supply chain leaders who can break down silos and design new, modern processes to help them compete.

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These are just a few areas that are in high demand, but as we said above, supply chain hiring remains quite robust across roles and industries. And many companies are struggling to secure the talent they need. At Argentus, we sit at the nexus of the market for supply chain talent across Canada. Our specialty is in filling niche, hard-to-fill roles—often when internal HR or existing hiring processes haven’t delivered. 

Whether you’re a job candidate looking for a new supply chain role, or a company hiring in the supply chain space, we’d love to hear from you! Send an email to recruit@argentus.com outlining your needs. We’d love to chat.