A new Deloitte report warns that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s infrastructure and housing ambitions could fall short unless Canada mobilizes nearly half a million skilled trade workers by 2030, and as many as 800,000 by 2034.
The report says Canada needs 410,000 to 520,000 new workers to meet its construction goals — not including the 270,000 workers expected to retire over the next decade.
“Investments in training, productivity technologies, and stronger incentives for apprenticeships will be critical,” said Trevin Stratton, Deloitte’s global lead for economic consulting.
The warning follows Carney’s announcement of five major “nation-building” projects — from nuclear expansion at Darlington to the LNG Canada facility in Kitimat and Port of Montreal’s Contrecoeur Terminal — all designed to revive an economy strained by U.S. tariffs.
Industry leaders, however, say labour shortages threaten those plans.
“It’s taken 30 years to build a workforce in Toronto that can produce 35,000 homes a year,” said Justin Sherwood of the Building Industry and Land Development Association. “If the slowdown continues, we’ll lose them — and be back to square one.”
With more than 40,000 construction vacancies nationwide and historically low unemployment in the sector, experts say coordinated planning is vital to avoid a “perfect storm” of overlapping project demands.
“We can’t rely on moving workers from one province to another anymore,” Stratton cautioned.
Tricia Williams from the Future Skills Centre called for better support for apprentices — including childcare, mentoring, and financial aid — to prevent dropouts from long training programs.
“We’re not starting at zero,” she said. “There’s good momentum. What we need now is to support people through it.”
