Daily Commercial News
On this episode of The Construction Record Podcast, digital media editor Warren Frey speaks with BuildForce Canada executive director Bill Ferreira about labour, immigration and the needs of skilled trades across Canada.
The Government of Canada recently announced a goal to bring 500,000 new immigrants to Canada per year, and during the COVID-19 pandemic the nation’s borders were shut down driving immigration levels down to essentially zero and exacerbating an ongoing labour shortage across the construction industry and the wider Canadian economy.
Ferriera pointed out while the federal government still wants highly-skilled younger workers to immigrate to Canada, in his view there should be a broader focus in matching what the industry needs presently with people who have a matching share of skills. He added the construction industry is not keeping pace but it is also difficult to recruit new Canadians who did not come to the country with the intent to join the trades to begin with.
You can listen to The Construction Record on the Daily Commercial News and Journal of Commerce websites as well as on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music’s podcast section. Our previous episode about the upcoming Buildex Vancouver conference is here. Thanks for listening.