One of the newly formed Atlantic Construction Alliance’s (ACA) priorities is to advocate for changes to the immigration system that falls short of meeting the labour needs of Atlantic Canada’s construction industry.
Immigrants make up only about three per cent of the construction workforce in Atlantic Canada compared with 21 to 25 per cent in other provinces. That gap highlights how underrepresented immigrants are in the region’s construction sector, says John-Ryan Morrison, executive director of the Construction Association of New Brunswick (CANB).
“We are really trying to find an Atlantic Canadian immigration approach that works for our construction industry.”
The CANB is one of the four provincial construction and four roadbuilding associations that comprise the recently launched ACA.
“The challenges we face are real and without a strong unified approach we might not get the message out around the table that we need to,” says Morrison.
Sam Sanderson, executive director of the Construction Association of Prince Edward Island (CAPEI), reinforces that workforce shortages are something the ACA hopes to get traction on with federal and provincial politicians.
Atlantic Canada has about 100,000 construction workers but a recent report focussed on the sector-wide labour force in the four eastern provinces found there will be about 440,000 jobs available over the next decade, says Sanderson.
If immigration holds at current levels, the provinces will only fill about 180,000 of those jobs, he says.
“The workforce is going to be a big challenge but the skilled workforce will be even a bigger challenge.” Aside from the importance of workforce training at both upper government levels, he says, targeted immigration is critical to meeting the needs of the industry.
Morrison adds the ACA will lobby for hikes in core infrastructure spending — roads, bridges, sewer and water, schools and hospitals – because without infrastructure housing shortages across the four provinces will continue to grow.
While supporting wraparound infrastructure for housing might not win politicians popularity contests, “we’re hoping our Atlantic Canadian voice will raise that profile.”
Sherry Martell, executive director of the Nova Scotia Road Builders Association, says as a collective the ACA can evaluate legislative requirements from various government departments on contracts that add “cost burdens” which might be eliminated to save contractors and taxpayers’ money.
Another benefit of the collaborative is sharing workforce training among different associations, across provincial borders in both vertical and horizontal sectors, she says.
“If we’re running a course that would benefit some of the roadbuilders in P.E.I. or some of the vertical construction folks, then we want to share that because it is good for all of us.”
The alliance’s objectives include eliminating barriers to improve labour mobility between the provinces. Cross-province standardization in safety might be an example. Newfoundland’s Fall Arrest requirements differ from the rest of Atlantic Canada, forcing out‑of‑province contractors to build extra training time into their workers’ schedules, says Sanderson.
Transparency is also critical to ensure contractors that have the capacity to do a job have the availability to bid it.
“Bringing more awareness to what is available in your area for the future procurement is part of that,” he says.
The idea of a four-province alliance had been discussed for a few years and last fall the eight associations sat down to hammer out an arrangement over a couple of days, says Sanderson.
Martell sees the ACA as part of “a natural progression” for the roadbuilder association’s collaborative efforts with others groups.
“Having this type of collaboration…and look at advocacy through the lens of understanding both sides of the roadbuilding and heavy civil and vertical construction makes us really able to strengthen our voice and add to our advocacy efforts,” she says.
Sanderson says members of the alliance have been in discussion with federal and provincial ministers about the role the ACA will play in helping government understand the needs of the sectors.
“They are very excited to hear this – a collective voice where instead of 10 meetings maybe they can have one.”
