By Allison Taylor
Mass hiring by Ottawa’s high-tech companies has resulted in a dangerous shortage of skilled trade workers in the booming construction industry, says a local general contractor.
“The construction industry is not in the forefront of hiring because everyone is going into high-tech or the Internet industry,” says Michel Boisclair, general contractor and owner of XL Management on Cooper Street.
“Construction is not a popular trade right now and we are facing an extreme shortage of skilled tradesmen like electricians, plumbers and carpenters, when they are needed the most.”
Boisclair has been in the construction business for 32 years and says the industry is now facing a dangerous situation unless the labour force is revitalized soon.
He says for the last decade the Ottawa construction industry has been shrinking, but, since 1995, business has gradually started to bounce back.
“When the market was low, there weren’t any new skilled people coming into the construction industry,” Boisclair says. “Now as the market is booming, we do not have enough skilled workers.”
In order to gain more workers, the industry needs to train more people, says Ian Donnelly, a construction manager at O & Y Enterprise.
“The apprenticeship programs needs to supply more people,” Donnelly says. “This is one of the only solutions there is to the tight labour market right now.”
It takes time for the apprentices to develop the specialized skills required, says John DeVries, president of the Ottawa Construction Association.
Donnelly says he is not overly concerned.
“Things have a way of working themselves out and the tight labour market will eventually respond to the industry’s demand,” Donnelly says.
“The economy is a fluid thing, a requirement or need is always satisfied over time.”
But time is something the industry does not have.
“The construction industry should have been addressing our long-term needs before the current boom really started rising,” Boisclair says.
“In lean periods, there is no real will to prepare ahead of time and right now we are caught in a sharp upswing of activity and we are caught unprepared.”
Society’s negative perception of the construction industry is also partially to blame for the inability to attract young skilled workers and explains why construction is not the number one industry, DeVries says.
“It isn’t always the class dummy coming to our trades as most people think,” DeVries says.
“It is a highly technical industry and there is money to be made in the end, but you do need a brain ifcn your head to be successful.”
Scheduling projects has also become a major factor in the business.
“At the moment it is becoming increasingly difficult to schedule work,” Donnelly says.
“You have to learn to schedule things well in advance and accommodate the trade workers you have.”
Schedules would not be difficult to meet, if society was a little more patient with new developments Donnelly says.