OTTAWA — A new report from BuildForce Canada suggests Canada’s residential and non-residential construction labour forces will have to grow significantly over the next decade if Canada is to meet its housing supply goals.
Meanwhile, the non-residential construction sector, which builds and installs the essential infrastructure such as roads and sewers that support the construction of new housing, will need to expand its labour force by an additional 19 per cent above 2023 levels. “Achieving the targets described in the alternative scenario would require a significant increase in the annual rate of housing starts over the next decade. This increase would be set to occur in an environment where the construction sector is already struggling in terms of labour to keep up with current demand levels.”