Report sheds light on future of construction in Saskatchewan | BuildForce Canada

Report sheds light on future of construction in Saskatchewan


REGINA – A new construction forecast released today is giving Saskatchewan industry leaders a snapshot of what the future market holds and where they’ll be able to find their workforce.

The Construction Sector Council’s (CSC) third annual edition of “Construction Looking Forward: Labour Requirements from 2007 to 2015 for Saskatchewan” sheds light on current labour market trends and offers projections for the future. By examining labour market trends from the recent past, the report offers insight on what the future challenges are in store for the industry.

"Although Saskatchewan is in the middle of a record building boom, we know that the future labour pool might not be large enough to satisfy that demand.” said Paul McLellan, President of Alliance Energy Ltd. and a member of the CSC’s Board of Directors. “The information in this forecast is invaluable for the Saskatchewan construction sector to be able to plan effectively for those fluctuations that are coming.” He highlights the importance of this document as a planning tool for the construction industry. “This forecast has been assembled with input from all segments of the construction industry. The information is reflective of the current situation in Saskatchewan, as well as what the future holds.”

The importance of this year’s forecast was echoed by Terry Parker, Business Manager of the Saskatchewan Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council. He says, "With the knowledge that there are going to be some upcoming demographic shifts in the workforce, we’re planning ahead now to recruit and train qualified replacements.”

The report notes that in addition to a shifting workforce, factors such as strong local economic conditions and extensive building activity in other provinces will impact the available workforce for Saskatchewan. It also states that recruiting for the industrial and engineering construction trades may prove to be the most challenging.

“We now know that there will be strong competition among the companies for the available skilled workforce,” said Bob Turczyn, Construction Supervisor at SaskPower. “With big projects coming down the pipe, resources are going to be limited and wQe will need to change the way we attract new workers to this industry, starting now.”

Paul Caton, Senior Market Analyst for Saskatchewan, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, cites the forecast as a helpful tool to help monitor labour market conditions. “The housing segment is going through an upswing right now, which is putting a strain on the available workforce for selected trades. The CSC’s outlook calls for conditions in the residential market to slow over the medium term to 2011 before growth resumes later in the forecast.”

A new feature to this year’s report allows stakeholders to perform customized data searches online. This tool will help individuals source out the exact data that is relevant to their particular segment’s needs.

Construction Looking Forward forecasts will be released for each province over the coming weeks.

The Construction Sector Council was established in 2001 as an independent labour/business partnership to address the workforce needs of the construction industry. The CSC is a neutral forum that brings together stakeholders to provide data that industry can use to make critical planning decisions. CSC provides this data to industry who undertake their own analysis. Funding for this project was provided by the Government of Canada's Sector Council Program. The report is available on the CSC website at www.csc-ca.org.

MORE INFORMATION:
Michael Fougere
Saskatchewan Construction Association
(306) 539-8454
michaelf@scaonline.ca

Rosemary Sparks
Construction Sector Council
(613) 569-5552
sparks@csc-ca.org