Why Canada is on the cusp of a housing construction crisis

The accommodations are about to become much more expensive in the next decade if the federal government does not renew its immigration program that brings qualified workers, according to the construction sector.

“We are really struggling to get the right type of workers,” said his Wastell, president of London, a real estate developer with headquarters in Ontario Wastell Homes.

Many construction organizations across the country claim not to have enough workers who do jobs that do not require specialized training and the federal immigration system is not bringing them. Considering the number of people who retire in the coming years, together with an ambitious residential goal to face economic accessibility, Homes will get much more expensive and out of the door for the Canadians.

This is set against the background of the current political climate, when the Canadians are Feel more and more anxious for immigration and the rights given to new arrivalsputting the The recent reduction of the federal government in immigration objectives and increase homes in contrast to each other.

The specific types of jobs that are missing the construction companies are generally indicated as “unqualified labor” – for example framer, setters of tiles, window installers and doors – in which the skills are learned at work and do not require a certificate, a degree or an apprenticeship.

The problem is twofold, according to Wastell. At national level, there are not enough people who enter this type of work and despite the efforts in recent years to increase interest in the sector, it is not enough to fill the gap. In addition, the immigration system based on the points of the Federal Government, called the Complete classification systemGenerally it brings only the most educated and qualified workers, such as engineers.

“It is really causing many delays and adding additional costs to our overall prices that we must end up loading the end user.”

According to Statistics Canada, immigrants play a key role in the sector, equal to 23 % of all general contractors and residential manufacturers.

Pension of the sector

According to the industrial organization Buildforce Canada, 22 percent of the workforce are destined to retire in the residential construction in the next eight years. There are around 259,100 workers. However, retirements are expected to exceed the new participants in the sector, with 228,100 scheduled to enter the sector in the same period of time. According to Wastell, Pandemia accelerated the temporal sequence, with an increase in the number of pensioners in those years.

These statistics are worrying for many companies, especially coupled with the objectives of supporters and the government to make accommodation more convenient. To face the Lack of housing feedingCanada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says 5.8 million houses must be built by 2030 restore economic accessibility to the levels seen in 2004.

Even worrying: the looming problem is not only limited to residential construction, but also to other projects.

“We are worried,” said Patrick Mcmanus, executive director of the Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association. The organization is made up of 800 members members throughout the province that builds, maintains and manages sewer and Watermain infrastructures at the municipal level.

“If these problems are not addressed, we will deal with problems such as the increase in costs for construction projects, delays in construction projects”.

Mcmanus indicated the last Canadian infrastructure report Having said that, 30 % of water infrastructures are in right, poor or very poor conditions. Almost 40 % of the roads and bridges were in the same conditions.

“This is the most critical resource we have as general audience,” he said.

“We will have some very serious problems unless we are investing sustainablely and growing sustainablely.”

He feels more faults for infrastructure while the time proceeds without the critical workers necessary to repair and replace them.

In a declaration, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) have declared to CBC News which plans to convene an advisory board to “evaluate the needs in the sector and recommend new paths to bring qualified workers we need, a regularization path for construction workers outside the United States and support for foreign apprentices”.

He said he will continue to evaluate the effectiveness of programs such as the classification system based on points.

On March 7, the then Minister of Immigration Marc Miller announced that the IRCC would be based on the success of pilot programs as one from 2020 in the Greater Toronto area, which allowed construction workers without documents to request a permanent residence. He had admitted about 1,365 permanent residents and dependent people through the program, starting from November 2024. However, with a federal election on the horizon, the future of the initiative is uncertain.

Example of New Scotland

Some provinces have achieved some success in bringing specific workers.

In October 2023, also the new Scotland He launched a pilot program To direct the necessary types of works.

THE Pilot of critical construction operatorsAccording to the Federal Government, he allowed candidates with job offers in the construction sector to use “professional training to meet the educational requirement[s] And it allows an alternative language test for those who have highly qualified job offers “.

The pilot was successful, according to Jeremy Smith of the Department of Labor Skills in New Scotland, who said that many workers who wanted to bring left secondary school to pursue a job in the operations.

“It was a barrier for them using our programs,” he said. “[The pilot program] provided that this flexibility when it comes to equivalence … High School. ”

Smith said 512 candidates were approved through the pilot in 2024.

However, critics say that the federal government should be responsible for implementing changes, considering that the problem is influencing the entire country.

Kevin Lee, CEO of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association, says that all the provinces are affected by the lack of workers, but the government is only “foaming at the edges” to try to improve the expressed paths.

“At a time when we have a national housing crisis, we shouldn’t say:” Let’s let the provincial programs understand it, “he said.

Mcmanus, with the Ontario Sewer and WaterMain Construction Association, states that if the problem is not addressed now, the construction sites could be sitting at a detention, waiting for workers to arrive for months, within the next 5-10 years.

“We have to modernize and evolve that system,” he said.

Another solution, according to Rupa Banerjee, associate professor of human resources management at the Toronto Metropolitan University, is to diversify the types of people that the country brings.

“I am not very strongly in favor of having points for specific professions because we are always two steps behind the trends of the labor market and the needs of the labor market.

“We have to make sure we have a wide range of skills and a great variety of people”.