Those vacancies, which push up building costs and impede productivity, come at a time when the residential construction industry is under pressure to meet the demands of a growing population.
There are several factors that CMHC credits for this gap, and labour shortages are one, alongside higher interest rates, rising building costs and zoning problems. “But obviously … the need to build homes has never gone away,” Lee said, adding that there’s also growing demand for workers on the renovation side of residential construction.
However, the labour shortage has also given workers in the industry more bargaining power amid the rising cost of living, and pay is reflecting that. A recent note from RBC said wages in the sector grew 9.4 per cent in 2022, nearly double other industries. Of course, the labour shortage is just one of the issues contributing to a housing supply gap, noted Lee — higher material costs, regulatory red tape and higher interest rates are all weighing on the building of new homes, he said.
While more needs to be done to attract people to the sector, the construction industry should also seek to improve technology and innovation in order to help ease the gap, ab Iorweth said.
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