While workforce numbers have improved over the past five years, it may not be enough for employers in BC’s construction industry who continue to face extreme pressures, according to statistics reported in the Spring 2024 BC Construction Association (BCCA) Construction Industry Stat Pack and BCCA’s annual BC Construction Industry Survey Report.
Demand for construction remains high in British Columbia, with major projects currently underway at an estimated value of $160 billion, which, according to the report, is an increase of $3 billion over the past six months.
The report noted that this represents an increase of 39 per cent over the past five years. At $170 billion, however, the estimated value of proposed major projects remains at lower levels than in Spring 2023, when proposed projects were valued at $221 billion.
A majority of contractors are enduring pressure from a number of sources such as labour shortages, which mean higher wages and steep competition for qualified workers and payment uncertainty and the lack of Prompt Payment legislation continuing to preoccupy B.C.’s construction industry employers.
The report noted that the provincial government continues to fail to deliver on a simple and available solution which would provide immediate relief to a struggling construction sector.
Additionally, it noted that as B.C.’s contractors wait months for payment, they experience significant financial risk and take on the increased cost of debt, which can put them in danger of bankruptcy.
“We have asked the Eby government time and time again to respect the hard-working people and small business owners of B.C.’s construction industry by ending payment uncertainty through Prompt Payment Legislation,” said Chris Atchison, BCCA president. “Construction is the province’s number one goods sector employer. To see yet another legislative cycle pass without enactment of commonsense legislation already available in other Canadian jurisdictions is shocking. What’s taking so long?”
According to the report, the construction industry’s skills shortage has improved significantly over the past five years. While the industry still predicts a deficit of 6,600 skilled workers by 2033, it is a substantial improvement from the 26,100 short-fall estimated for 2023 a decade ago.
The report noted, however, that despite 9 per cent growth in the number of ICI construction companies in B.C. over the past 5 years, the number of tradespeople in the industry has dropped 7 per cent over five years. The average company size has contracted by 15 per cent over the previous 5 years to an average of 5.97 skilled trade workers.
“That a majority of workers in B.C.’s construction industry confirm that they would recommend a career in construction to friends and family is an encouraging sign at a time when recruitment is desperately needed,” said Atchison. “There is absolutely no lack of employment opportunities for anyone interested in exploring a career in construction. Today’s worksite is a much more welcoming and inclusive place than even a decade ago. That work continues; tradespeople and labourers repeatedly tell us how important positive workplace culture is to them. Everyone, including members of traditionally underrepresented groups, should feel welcome within B.C.’s construction industry.”
The 2024 B.C. Construction Industry Survey was conducted during the Fall and Winter of 2023-2024 and featured insight from 1,854 survey respondents, across industrial, commercial, institutional (ICI), and residential (multi-unit & single-family) sectors, and from all seven development regions of British Columbia.
