BuildForce Canada’s new executive director Irwin Bess has been on the job for less than a month but says from what he’s observed he is confident Canadian construction stakeholders, labour force planners and governments will find strategies to address critical worker needs as Canada prepares for a new major-projects boom.
One of Bess’s first deliverables this spring will be BuildForce’s annual Construction and Maintenance Looking Forward report, a 10-year labour force forecasting study that’s relied on by project and workforce analysts across the country.
He acknowledged the anxiety felt by stakeholders as builders aim to line up trades and other professionals to undertake billions’ worth of large infrastructure jobs that are already in the pipeline, supplemented by new megaprojects that could be added to logs.
“I’ve witnessed all of the different people coming to the table to work on this,” he said, referring to contractors, labour, governments, labour market information (LMI) specialists and others.
“It gives me hope and optimism. I’m actually very optimistic that we’re not only talking, we’re working together. And I think that’s going to be the key. Is everyone working together to bring the clarity and support the best possible decisions from a workforce planning perspective, at the individual company level all the way up to the provincial, federal level.”
Bess’s first day in his new position was March 2. He started his career as a municipal land development planner with training in environmental studies, planning and transportation studies and for almost 30 years focused on policy development, innovation and data strategies in the public service for such agencies as Transport Canada, the Privy Council Office and the Treasury Board.
Bess replaces Bill Ferreira who spent eight years at BuildForce before assuming the role of executive director of the Ottawa Construction Association.
‘Very difficult period’
Bess said Ferreira and the BuildForce team set the agency up well to deliver the products and services the construction sector needs entering a “very difficult period.”
He said BuildForce is well placed “at the intersection of advanced data analytics, private and public sector capital investment in the billions, and the availability readiness of Canada’s construction labour force.”
But what can come next, Bess said, is for BuildForce’s reach to be extended, and for its analysis to harness the ongoing evolution of data analytics.
“This brings together so many of my own experiences and time around the intersection of people, projects and the economy,” he said.
“Right now, it’s a really exciting time, because BuildForce has a mandate to enrol in being a really authoritative national source, to put an emphasis on that national source, of construction and maintenance, labour market data and intelligence.”
The construction industry is continuously advancing with new requirements to address electrification, the digital wave, green building and more, Bess said.
“I think the path forward is around accuracy, granularity and usability of our forecasts. I think we have some great opportunities with data but also capabilities in advanced analytics and data analytics that are here now that weren’t here five years ago.”
BuildForce can also evolve to play a greater role in project sequencing, Bess believes.
“Trying to bring insight to both the supply and demand of talented people and their availability at the right time, in the right place for the projects is really, really fascinating and important,” he said.
High confidence
BuildForce is currently a trusted source in the industry but Bess would like to see more Canadians aware of its value – for example, he said, for young people considering construction as a career.
By delivering essential data, highlighting where job demands are and working with industry partners and government, he said, discussions can be launched about “what are we doing to provide great environments for women, for example, and underrepresented groups in the sector.”
Bess said it’s an important time to be working with LMI, which now spans a wide range of data sources, and with generative AI, big data, and low-code or no-code tools, specialists can sift, synthesize and analyze it more effectively than ever.
“We can build ways for companies to share that data with reduced burden” and high confidence, Bess said.
