b'RECRUITMENTIts the shortage of labour that,UNTAPPED LABOUR POOLSthere arent many opportunities to if not overcome, will decimateEmployers wouldnt be losing sleepre-deploy workers from one sector construction, including the sewerif there were enough industryor region to another like we may and watermain sector. newcomers waiting to take theirhave been able to do in the past, place. Unfortunately, that isnt thehe says.Important to note, Cautillo says, iscase. According to Andy Manahan, that there is a deficit in construc- Executive Director of the Resi- What about the untapped tion, right across construction, butdential and Civil Constructionlabour pools within our borders? this deficit is augmented for ourAlliance of Ontario (RCCAO), theArguably, the industry can do more sector, because of the specializedoption of pulling talent from otherto explore underutilized talent. work that we do in the sewer andfields is fading. The economy isStatistics from BuildForce show watermain industry. going on all cylinders right now, sothat while women currently occupy 39.8 per cent of off-site positions, they only comprise 3.8 per cent of on-site employees. Similarly, Indigenous people only comprise 2.7 per cent of industry employ-ment, most in on-site positions.Clearly, increasing the number of women, Indigenous people, new arrivals and, where possible, Canadians with disabilities engaged in on-site positions would greatly help employers meet their future labour force needs, says Ferreira.Bringing foreign talent into the fold may seem like one solution to the industrys talent crunch. But as many employers can attest, thats far easier said than done. Canada isnt the only country on the hunt for new workers, and despite efforts to ease talent mobility between borders, lack of interest and increasing competition presents a few barriers. Although were a great country and we have great attributes, there are other countries that do tend to attract immigrants more than Canada, says Manahan, adding, Some of our rules have presented some friction with respect to bringing in new workers specifically for the construction sector. The unions have been more successful in this respect, but even they have limits.BRANDING PROBLEM OSWCA, the Canadian Construction Association, labour providers and other key industry training organizations have been very active in trying to attract new entrants into the construction sector. They are working hard to promote industry careers to youth, particularly to groups that are currently under-represented in the provinces construction industry.22 H 2 OSWCAWinter/Spring 2020'