The Pulse is SaltWire's deep dive series. In Prince Edward Island, the newsroom has been delving into the issue of housing for a series of stories beginning today and rolling out through the week.
CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – Jo Morrison figures their best option for helping to fix P.E.I.’s housing crisis in P.E.I. is to start building housing themself. P.E.I. is in the midst of a retirement wave in its construction industry. Buildforce Canada predicts the province will see the retirement of 1,570 skilled tradesworkers by 2033 – offsetting the number of new entrants in the industry.
Meanwhile, the provincial government has set a target of building an average of 2,000 homes per year between now and 2030. On top of this, Canada’s national building codes will also set out requirements that all new buildings achieve net-zero emission energy standards by 2030.Tim Banks, CEO of APM MacLean, one of the largest contractors in the province, estimates his company alone could hire 30 to 40 more trained tradespeople right now.
Jillian Kilfoil, executive director of the Women's Network of P.E.I., which runs the Trade HERizons program, believes the industry has historically relied on a male-dominated workforce. If the province is to meet its building goals, the industry will need to focus more on attracting and retaining women or people who identify as queer or trans, she said.
Holland College president Sandy MacDonald told SaltWire the college has often not had enough applicants to fill the seats in its carpentry program. However, that changed this year after the college increased the seats in its carpentry program from 20 to 36. So far, 33 students have enrolled in the upcoming program.
As for the province, Hunter said the Department of Workforce, Advanced Learning and Population set a target in early 2023 to recruit the equivalent of 25 per cent of the province’s construction labour force into the apprenticeship program. This goal has been met, she said. “We’re holding our own on what I would call replacements … on that projected retirement,” Hunter said. “The challenge is our growth. We need to really focus in on 10-plus years of experience. And that's why we have built construction-related trades as a priority under our immigration strategy.”Kilfoil believes the challenge in P.E.I. is less about recruiting more people to the trades and more about retaining these people.
"Now lots of employers are doing great things to attract workers and retain them. But I think it's a sector where there can be a lot of challenges once you're in the workplace, and there may not be the same supports available that you might have in an office environment or in a large company," Kilfoil said.In April, Sanderson and Packwood both travelled to the U.K. and Ireland as part of an overseas recruiting mission, along with staff from the province’s office of immigration.
This frame of a tiny home is under construction by students of the Discover Carpentry program. The program offers hands-on training to new entrants to the construction trade. - Stu Neatby/SaltWire Statistics Canada data shows average hourly wages in P.E.I.’s construction sector have grown from $21.14 in 2019 to $26.08 in 2023 – a five-year increase of 23 per cent. That said, P.E.I.’s average hourly construction wages in the province are still the lowest in Atlantic Canada.Sanderson acknowledged that construction wages in P.E.I. have not kept up with neighbouring provinces. But in a market where labour is tight, wages tend to rise.
“I'm not going to lie and say that I haven't heard a ton of stories from a ton of people where they were not necessarily treated fairly because of their identity or where they're from,” Morrison said.