February 14, 2013

CCA pleased with Chamber report findings

OTTAWA

The Canadian Construction Association (CCA) was pleased to see the release of the Top 10 Barriers to Competitiveness report from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, which once again stressed the importance of ongoing infrastructure investment, the need for increased innovation and productivity, and — ranked as the number one issue—the need to address the skills shortage in Canada.

“For the Canadian construction industry, this report highlights much of what our members across Canada are now facing as barriers to their own competitiveness,” said Michael Atkinson, president of the CCA, in a press statement.

“As an industry, we are pleased to see those issues being brought up in discussions across Canada, and hope that our industry, amongst others, can assist in finding solutions to these barriers.”

This is the second year the chamber has released its Top 10 report. Like last year, infrastructure, innovation, productivity and labour remain prominent issues.

The CCA continues to work with its partners, members, and other like-minded organizations to bring attention to these issues as they relate to economic competitiveness and performance.

The skills shortage being faced across Canada has remained a prominent issue for the Canadian construction industry, as well as many other industries across Canada.

The CCA has been pleased with several positive changes to Canada’s immigration system to help address this issue, and hopes these constructive steps can continue as the industry faces an impending shortage of 320,000 workers by 2020.

The Top 10 report also follows the release of the Canada West Foundation’s report, At The Intersection. Following a comprehensive examination of more than 200 studies worldwide, the report concluded that sustained and strategic investment in Canada’s public infrastructure is a key driver of economic productivity.

The association was also pleased to see mention of the need for a definitive innovation strategy to improve commercialization of research and innovation, while improving workforce productivity.

The CCA has identified increased innovation as an industry priority, and is supporting the creation of an institute for research and innovation in the Canadian construction industry.

“Once again, the chamber has captured succinctly many of the issues and challenges that our industry and the Canadian economy now face,” Atkinson continued.

“The Canadian Construction Association looks forward to continuing work on behalf of our membership to help address these issues.”

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