TRACKING TRACKING CONSTRUCTION CONSTRUCTION LABOUR LABOUR A 2026 LABOUR MARKET REPORT from BuildForce Canada paints a complex picture for the GTA’s construction industry. With many forces shaping activity in both the residential and non- residential sectors, the industry watcher’s research reveals a labour market under mounting pressure to supply skilled workers where they’re needed most. BuildForce’s Construction and Maintenance Looking Forward report for the period of 2026 to 2035 offers insights into the current and future state of the residential and non-residential construction industry, and their anticipated impacts on construction labour. On the residential side, it shows a GTA sector affected by the current high- rise slump alongside slower population growth, weaker consumer spending, reduced immigration levels and economic uncertainty. “We project that residential construction investment, which is principally driven by new housing construction, will reach a 20-year low in 2027,” reports Irwin Bess, executive director of BuildForce. On the upside, he continues, the market is showing signs that it will return to growth soon after: “As population growth starts to rebound, so will generally growth in residential investment. We’re projecting a recovery taking hold in 2028 and carrying through to the end of the forecast period in 2035.” Still, the slowdown has created a temporary release valve for construction labour. Workers who had been tied up on major high-rise projects have increasingly become available for other work, easing some of the hiring pressures experienced during the residential boom. The concern, according to BuildForce, is what happens when housing activity eventually returns. “There is a risk that we may see some workers pursue work in other regions of the province or other parts of the country or even exit the industry altogether,” says Bess. “But, on the flip side of that, is that there is a lot of work happening in the non-residential sector, with much of that work driven by the construction of commercial and institutional buildings where minimal retraining would be required to onboard a displaced residential construction worker.” That’s not to say moving between construction sectors is feasible for workers, as skills and qualifications make it far from BUILDFORCE CANADA’S INDUSTRY FORECASTS a simple switch. Rather, the few that do migrate into other sectors during this current slowdown may not necessarily come back, creating renewed labour shortages just as residential construction begins recovering later in the decade. As for what’s pulling workers to the non-residential side, BuildForce says there is a large number of major projects currently planned or underway across the region, with work spanning across the construction of industrial, commercial and institutional buildings, major infrastructure such as public transit and roads, highways and bridges and major nuclear refurbishment and small modular reactors (SMRs). “You don’t have to go far in the GTA to see the mega projects that are in the ground,” says Bess, noting that a long list of transit, hospital, utility and industrial, commercial and institutional building projects are expected to keep labour requirements elevated through the next 10 years. “We have an impressive number of projects in the pipeline,” says Bess. “But the bottom line is, there’s still a huge labour pressure in the longer term to get the people with the right skills and the right experience for these projects.” By Matthew Bradford 20 Quarter 2 2026 BUILDERSDIGEST CONSTRUCTION PRIORITIES: BUILDFORCE REPORTS
View this content as a flipbook by clicking here.