Landed immigrants play a vital role in shaping and sustaining the construction sector. However, over the last 30 years, changes in immigration selection policy have left the industry with diminished access to the vast pool of international talent with the skills it requires.
Ensuring the sector can continue to access adequate numbers of skilled newcomers to remain competitive and achieve important public-policy imperatives will be critical as the industry contends with addressing Canada’s housing crisis, modernizing and expanding the country’s trade-enabling infrastructure, and supporting the nascent electrification of the economy.
This report examines the current state of immigration policies at the national level and across Canada’s provinces and territories, and recommends the adoption of a series of consensus principles to ensure the construction sector can better access skilled workers from abroad in an effort to address projected shortages of skilled labour created by rising construction demands and changing demographics.