July 27, 2006

Apprentices in construction industry can look forward to continued work in B.C.

PETER MITHAM

correspondent

VANCOUVER

The construction sector in B.C. requires 14,800 workers between 2006 and 2009, but new workers just entering the sector shouldn’t think the opportunities will disappear in 2010.

The projections of labour requirements are in the latest edition of an annual survey produced by the Construction Sector Council.

The report looks at every province in Canada, but B.C. is notable for having the sharpest shift in workforce requirements over the next 10 years.

“The B.C. construction cycle from 2001 to 2014 is the most dramatic swing among the provinces,” the report states.

Construction employment across 38 trades covered by the report rose 50 per cent between 2001 and 2005, and will require annual gains of four per cent to keep pace with development activity through 2009.

But estimates peg the annual increase in employment at 3.5 per cent between 2006 and 2009.

Add 20,000 retiring workers to the mix, and the industry will actually require 34,800 new workers by 2014.

B.C. Construction Association president Manley McLachlan said the crunch could be sharpened by projects that haven’t yet started. He noted that the B.C. Major Projects Inventory logs $82 billion in new projects for the coming years, indicating strong demand beyond 2009.

“The ICI sector is the one we believe is going to gain momentum.”

Manley McLachlan

BCCA

“Some of the projects that will come onstream in the resource sector are going to continue the demand well beyond the next three years,” he said.

“The ICI sector is the one we believe is going to gain momentum and it’s going to sustain that momentum well beyond the next three years.”

The current report suggests the excess supply of workers, pegged last year at 11.8 per cent in the years following 2010, may worsen to 15 per cent and higher.

McLachlan believes ICI projects may mean the excess labour supply is less than feared, however.

He noted that future reports will provide greater regional analysis.

This will allow the industry to see the exact impact of projects in areas such as northern B.C., where $20 billion in projects are on the books.

Given that workers appear less willing to switch communities for work these days, McLachlan said the regional analyses could highlight areas of the province where the worker shortage will be more acute than others.

Renovations and ongoing maintenance of buildings will also create opportunities for trades, but where McLachlan said the real need lies is in passing on management expertise to younger workers as retirees lay down their tools.

“We think we’ll have a challenge on our hands trying to capture that knowledge prior to it leaving,” he said.

Apprenticeship programs are helping fill that gap, however.

The Industry Training Authority, which oversees apprenticeship programs in B.C., reports that registered apprentices across B.C. stood at 28,315 as of June 30, 2006.

The figure was nearly double the number in March 2004.

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