b'CONSTRUCTION PRIORITIES: THE SKILLED LABOUR SHORTAGEMany developed countries in the OECD, like Canada, have an aging population and are competing for skilled workers, IMMIGRANTS PLAY A VITAL ROLEsaid Ferreira. Countries such as Australia and New Zealand, with similar demographics, have embraced immigration to IN SHAPING AND SUSTAINING THEa greater extent than Canada to supplement their domestic workforce development. Most European countries face [CONSTRUCTION] SECTOR. THEIR DIVERSEsimilar demographic pressures and will increasingly turn to SKILLS AND TALENTS HAVE ENABLED THEimmigration to help fill gaps in their labour forces. This will not only increase international competition for skilled INDUSTRY TO RESPOND EFFECTIVELY TOwould-be immigrants but also intensify domestic recruitment pressures, as these countries are likely to target Canadian THE RISING DEMANDS FOR CONSTRUCTIONyouth for recruitment. To remain competitive in the race to recruit skilled workers, Canada needs to reform its current SERVICES ACROSS THE COUNTRY.immigration selection policy and improve the process for integrating skilled immigrants into the economy to remain an - BUILDFORCE attractive destination.Over the past 30 years, Canadian immigration policy has Ferreira emphasized in his presentation that since the 1990s,gradually shifted towards favouring university-educated immigration policy changes have resulted in the need forcandidates. As a result, those with trades qualifications have skilled workers being lost within new policies that look firstseen their share of overall principal applicant selections and foremost at university education. Considering the manydecline significantly, from around nine per cent of the annual challenges that the construction industry faces in the futuretotal in the 1980s to just around two per cent since 2016.(e.g., aging infrastructure, the housing crisis and electrifyingAt the same time, the share of university-educated individuals the country), these challenges highlight the priority of attractingincreased from around 30 per cent to just overskilled workers from foreign lands through immigration 70 per cent today.policy reform. Our current policy makes it extremely challenging for According to the BuildForce report, immigrants play a vitalindividuals with skilled trades training and certificates to role in shaping and sustaining the [construction] sector. Theirqualify for immigration. Given the increasing dependence diverse skills and talents have enabled the industry to respondCanada has on immigration as a labour force supplement, if effectively to the rising demands for construction servicesthis imbalance isnt addressed, it will only exacerbate skilled across the country.labour shortages in sectors such as construction,said Ferreira.THE CURRENT STATUSWith the potential number of young people in Canada thatAs part of the report, the construction industry also identified could enter the trades dwindling and the number of retiringthe increasing role that provinces play in the selection of trade workers forecast to exceed the number of new workersimmigrants. The provinces, through their provincial nominee entering the trades over the next decade, immigration is vitallyselections, increasingly select a growing number of principal needed to fill the skilled worker gap and maintain a robustapplicants for immigration. While provinces have a better working-age population. As Ferreira explained, Canada hassense of the kinds of immigrants they need to fill gaps in their not had a positive fertility rate where the population growsrespective labour forces, there is a lack of transparency around internally since 1972. Since then, the country has relied morethe selection process. and more on immigration for our population growth. As such, it is difficult for sectors such as construction to know if the selection levels established for individuals with skilled trades experience are adequate. Moreover, there is a lack of direct formal consultation with the industry for both federal and provincial skilled trades targets, which in part has contributed to the current mismatches of labour force demand and supply, exacerbating the skilled labour shortages the construction sector has experienced over the past decade. Construction is only one of many sectors dependent on skilled trades workers. These workers make up a sizable share of the total workforces in the mining, oil and gas and manufacturing sectors, so addressing the selection imbalance has broader implications for the Canadian economy than just construction. Furthermore, there are specific construction trades that are foundational to construction activity that are ineligible for selection through the express entry system, such as trade helpers and labourers. 20Quarter 22024 BUILDERSDIGEST'