January 25, 2005

Trades’ business manager looks ahead:

Construction workers should expect to be on the job in 2005

By Grant Cameron

staff writer

This year should be a good one for construction workers in most parts of the province, according to Patrick Dillon, business manager of the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario.

Although there were rough areas for workers in 2004, especially in the northern part of Ontario, the outlook for 2005 is better, he said in an interview.

“Generally, I think that Ontario has had a fairly decent year in 2004 although we have some spots around the province where there is unemployment.

“Toronto and Ottawa have been fairly strong but certainly northern Ontario, Thunder Bay as an example, are very slow right now. Western Ontario has been slow, even Hamilton, Niagara and Kitchener have been slow.

“But looking at 2005, I think that’s going to turn to be a more positive picture.”

Dillon said the construction industry is looking up on a number of fronts, which should translate into more work for the trades.

“I think the steel industry is going to be spending some fairly major upgrading dollars,” he said. “General Motors and Ford are both into the expansion mode.

“The housing industry, with the interest rates where they’re at, is going to maintain itself. They may not increase in volume but they’ll maintain their numbers for sure. So, I think things look fairly good in the province of Ontario.”

“I would really like government at all levels to work with business at all levels across this country to tell us how many construction tradespeople they’re going to need”

Patrick Dillon

Dillon said the exception might be Thunder Bay.

“I don’t hear a lot of promise for the Thunder Bay area at this point, although they’re looking at maybe some power sector possibilities.”

According to the Conference Board of Canada, the economy of Thunder Bay declined 5.2 per cent in 2004. It is expected to recover in 2005, with growth forecast at 4.1 per cent. The services and manufacturing sectors are expected to lead the charge.

Sudbury, meanwhile, has picked up in recent months so it’s looking fairly decent for 2005, Dillon said.

With the steady work, some groups have been worried about the supply of workers.

A report released earlier this year by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce indicated that 52 per cent of skilled trades are expected to retire within the next 15 years, with 41 per cent of respondents indicating they will face a skills shortage in their industry within five years.

According to the survey, the number one cause for shortages of skilled trades and apprentices is that the jobs are not viewed as desirable professions.

However, Dillon said the construction industry is still attractive to young people and it can deliver the workers as long as government and business forecast how many skilled trades will be needed.

“I know that the age of the construction workforce dictates that there’s a lot of retirees going to be leaving the workforce over the next few years.

“But I think that’s cyclical with construction and what I mean by cyclical is a 15-year cycle where it seems to be the headline in the newspapers every 15 years.

“I would really like government at all levels to work with business at all levels across this country to tell us how many construction tradespeople they’re going to need in their provinces and their cities or whatever for, say the year 2010, 2015, 2020. Tell us how many construction workers you’re going to employ over those years and in what trades and we’ll have them trained.”

Dillon said young people are looking for value-added jobs, but the trades can’t guarantee them because employers aren’t providing any numbers.

“So I think the key thing is that the government has to move away from the rhetoric around the skills shortages and start to focus on what the needs are.

“Maybe the auto industry, the mining industry and the hospital industry might have a skills shortage but I’m telling you the construction sector can deliver if we’re given the heads up as to what the needs are going to be three or four years out.”

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