The construction industry warns that housing will become increasingly unaffordable if the federal immigration system does not attract more skilled workers. Leaders like Sue Wastell emphasize the shortage of unskilled laborers, such as framers and installers, critical for meeting ambitious housing targets. The imminent retirement of current workers creates a further challenge. While the government has reduced immigration targets amid public concern, many in construction argue that the points-based system favors highly educated applicants and fails to address the urgent need for on-the-job trained laborers, exacerbating cost and timeline issues for housing projects.
"We're really struggling with getting the right type of workers," said Sue Wastell, president of London, Ont.-based real estate developer Wastell Homes. Many construction organizations across the country say they don't have enough labourers doing jobs that don't require specialized training and the federal immigration system isn't bringing them in.
The problem is twofold, according to Wastell. Domestically, there aren't enough people getting into these kinds of jobs, and despite efforts in recent years to increase interest in the sector, it's not enough to bridge the gap.
"It's really causing a lot of delays and adding extra costs to our overall prices that we have to end up charging the end user."
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