British Columbia’s construction industry says its workforce numbers have improved in recent years, but labour shortages persist and are putting “extreme pressures” on employers.
The association says the average entry-level wage for construction workers is now at more than $22 an hour, 25 per cent above minimum wage in the province. Atchison says the industry still saw the number of trades workers drop by 7 per cent over the last five years to 167,300, and the average construction company in the province has seen its size contract by 15 per cent during that time.