Alberta construction officials are warning that skilled labour shortages might make delivering on the provincial government's ambitious, $8.6-billion plan to build new schools challenging.During a Wednesday morning press conference in Calgary, Minister of Education Demetrios Nicolaides and Premier Danielle Smith outlined the School Construction Accelerator Program.
Its intention is to relieve the province's population boom pressure on the education system by creating 50,000 spaces for students over the next three years, then an additional 150,000 student spaces in the four years after the initial three-year push, for a total of 200,000 student spaces over seven years.
A spokesperson for Alberta's Ministry of Education told CBC News via email the program anticipates 30 new schools and five to eight modernizations announced each year, for the next three years, beginning in the 2025 budget, although specific school announcements will occur when the annual capital plan is released.
"Key among these are the need for improvements in procurement practices and mitigating the ongoing labour shortage within the construction sector."Bill Black, president and CEO of the CCA, says an $8.6 billion program could add further demand challenges to an industry that's already stretched thin. "But that can very easily extend if design drags out, if the procurement phase drags out, and other matters come into play. So a lot of work has to happen in a very efficient manner before shovels can actually go in the ground."Labour shortage woes are top of mind for various construction industry experts, but one industry member says this announcement is an important opportunity for the sector.
"It's an aggressive timeline, there's no question about this. But if it's staged properly, we could actually be accomplishing all of it," he said.