Key figures — as of 2026-08-01: €2.5 million total programme budget — 500 training places split across 25 groups — first cohort started July 2026, second cohort opens September 2026 — monthly stipend up to €537 during technical training, dropping to €269 during the paid internship.
A second wave for a programme built for scale
Portugal's construction industry has a labour hole that no amount of political rhetoric has filled, and AIMA is now testing whether structured immigrant training can plug part of it. The programme, called Integrar para a Construção (Integrate for Construction), has been created by the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) and is expected to provide training opportunities for 500 participants, run in waves rather than one single intake. The first cycle began in July 2026, the second cycle starts in September 2026, and the third and fourth cycles are planned for the first half of 2027.
With a budget of approximately €2.5 million, the initiative seeks to improve access to employment while helping construction companies find workers with the skills needed to meet growing demand. The demand side of that equation is stark: the sector is one of the most affected by labour shortages in the country, with industry estimates putting the deficit at around 80,000 workers.
Who qualifies, and what the training actually covers
This isn't a general jobs fair. The initiative is open to immigrants living in Portugal, as well as asylum seekers, refugees and beneficiaries of temporary protection schemes. Candidates need a valid residence document and a genuine interest in the trade — revealing interest and motivation to work in the civil construction sector is one of the stated eligibility conditions.
Once accepted, participants split their time between classroom and site. Technical training runs for 300 hours, followed by 300 hours of workplace-based training (internship), delivered at CICCOPN and, where necessary, other centres in the IEFP network. The trade options are specific and licensable: auxiliary electrician, plumbing, finish carpentry, formwork carpentry, plasterboard and ETICS insulation systems, construction machinery operation, and painting and finishing. Participants will be able to train in a range of construction-related professions, including electrical work, plumbing, machinery operation, carpentry, painting and finishing trades.
The delivery model brings together AIMA with sector bodies rather than running it as a solo government exercise. The programme is being funded through a partnership involving AIMA, the Institute for Employment and Vocational Training (IEFP) and the Construction Industry Training Centre (CICCOPN), with support from industry organisations and private-sector partners. The employers' association AICCOPN and the Fundação Ageas are also named partners, with the foundation's involvement building on an earlier employability programme it ran independently.
The money on the table
For anyone weighing whether four months of retraining is worth it financially, the stipend structure matters as much as the curriculum. During the training period participants can receive a monthly grant of up to €537, and during the internship phase the financial support drops to €269 per month. On top of that, the programme includes access to a training grant, personal accident insurance, and food and transport subsidies.
GrowIN's analysis: Running the numbers on AIMA's own figures gives a clearer picture of the offer. Divide the €2.5 million budget by the 500 target places and each participant effectively represents around €5,000 in public spending — covering training delivery, tutoring, equipment and stipends combined. On the stipend side alone, a participant completing the roughly four-month course — the split reported by AIMA is approximately four months of training in total — could receive in the region of €1,000–€1,600 in direct payments over the cycle, before food, transport and equipment support. That's a meaningful bridge for someone moving from informal or precarious work into a licensed trade, though actual totals depend on how many weeks fall into each phase and individual attendance.
"A €5,000-per-place investment is Portugal betting that formal trade certification, not just labour supply, is what its construction sites are actually short of," notes GrowIN Portugal Editorial.
Why this matters beyond the classroom
Portugal's construction shortage isn't abstract — it shows up in delayed housing delivery and rising build costs that eventually filter through to buyers and renters, foreign and Portuguese alike. A programme that formalises immigrant workers into licensed, insured trades — rather than leaving them in the grey economy — is also a signal of how AIMA is trying to use vocational integration as a companion to its slower-moving permit and renewal processes. Anyone navigating residence status alongside a career move should check our visas hub for how training placements interact with permit conditions, since eligibility here is explicitly tied to holding valid residency or protection status.
The project also forms part of the broader Integrar para o Mercado initiative, which focuses on improving labour market integration through vocational training and workplace experience, and similar programmes have already been introduced in sectors such as tourism — that tourism scheme, Integrar para o Turismo, is now in its second edition, suggesting AIMA sees this cross-sector formula as a template rather than a one-off.
What to watch next
Application windows for the September cycle haven't been published with the same lead time as the first round — the July intake's applications closed on 5 July, with organisers dividing participants into 25 training groups — so prospective candidates should monitor AIMA's official channels directly and contact integrar.construcao@aima.gov.pt for clarification before the September cohort's own deadline is confirmed. With two more cycles slated for 2027, this looks set to be a recurring route into the trades rather than a single experiment, and its success — measured in actual job placements, not just training completions — will likely shape whether AIMA extends the model to other shortage sectors next.