By Matt McCurrach, CHBA President
Canada’s housing shortage is being felt across the country, and while market conditions vary from coast to coast, one thing is constant – a shortage of workers.
The federal government has stated that Canada needs to build 3.5 million homes over the next decade to close the housing supply gap and help restore affordability for Canadians – that’s over and above the 2.3 million than we’d normally build. This means that the industry would need to more than double housing starts to reach these ambitious targets.
Welcome steps
While much more still needs to be done regarding policy change to pursue such a goal, and governments have made welcome steps over the past year to help spur homebuilding, one area that will continue to need much more support is re-supplying the industry’s workforce. Right now, builders in many parts of the country are faced with one of the most challenging economic environments in recent history, which has resulted in slowing starts. But if Canada continues to lower interest rates and can address the excessive mortgage barriers preventing buyers from buying, and other policies continue to come forward to allow more supply, then construction will ramp back up and our industry will again be faced extreme workforce challenges.
With BuildForce Canada estimating that 22 per cent of residential construction workers will retire by 2033, and 40 per cent of the workforce aging to 55-plus years old, the residential construction workforce would need to grow to more than 1.03 million workers by 2033 to meet the federal government’s targets – a staggering 83 per cent above the status quo. While much needs to be done to make that possible, increasing housing output to any large degree, never mind doubling it, will be difficult. Quite simply, if we don’t have the workers, we can’t build the homes. We’re going to need everyone – women, Indigenous groups, newcomers and more.
I believe that our industry has a key role to play in replenishing, growing and sustaining our workforce. We need to act now. Our association and members are already doing a lot, but there is more we can all do.
Where CHBA members can have the greatest impact is in our promotion of careers in residential construction. I’m a firm believer that young people have zero interest in listening to politicians tell them about a career in homebuilding. But we, as builders and renovators, have a chance to convince young people if we get out there and do it ourselves.
Win-win-win
I’m aware of several local and provincial homebuilders’ associations that are working with their members to bolster the residential construction workforce in their area. For example, CHBA Central Interior, my local association, has had great success over the last 34 years building a single-family home in collaboration with Thompson Rivers University (TRU) for YMCA BC’s annual Dream Home Lottery. First-year students of TRU and industry experts collaborate to build what’s called the Training House. The project is a win-win-win – it allows students in construction, electrical, plumbing and HVAC to gain valuable hands-on building experience, and it gives industry members the opportunity to provide mentorship and foster a supportive learning environment that encourages students to pursue careers in residential construction, all for the benefit of the industry. The cherry on top is that it’s all for charity.
These are the types of projects that help inspire the next generation of tradespeople – they ensure that the future of our sector remains bright and innovative. But it doesn’t take a huge project like the Training House to make a big impact. There are a lot of ways we can make a difference.
Call to CHBA members
Here’s my call to you, fellow CHBA members: Get out to your local schools and talk about the positives of getting into homebuilding, renovation and the skilled trades. It’s time to break the stigma and show young people that residential construction is for everyone, including underrepresented groups.
For more resources to help promote careers in residential construction, including what types of jobs are available and information for parents and guidance counsellors, visit CHBA National’s website at chba.ca/careers-in-residential-construction.
