BuildForce ‘responds to construction’s evolving needs’

June 28, 2023 – BuildForce released their annual report, which highlights its findings about and response to construction’s evolving needs.

According to executive director Bill Ferreira, “the Government of Canada’s imperative to achieve net zero carbon emissions in Canada’s building stock has prompted [our] economists to develop a new model, one that studies the likely implications of the move toward electrification on construction employment and labour-force demands.”

The 2023 Construction and Maintenance Looking Forward labour-market information (LMI) was designed “to provide insight into the construction sector’s ongoing efforts to diversify its workforce.”

The annual report found that 20 per cent of the existing construction and maintenance labour force are expected to retire between 2023 and 2032. There are an estimated 299,200 new workers needed by 2032 to keep with the pace of current construction demands and growing retirement numbers.

In 2022, 199,600 women were working in construction, with 53,900 employed in on-site activities. 74,400 Indigenous People were employed in the labour force.

With the influx of incoming workers to the construction labour force, BuildForce has grown their e-learning catalogue to 155 courses. These courses range from a National Construction Safety Awareness course to First Level Supervisor Training Programs and a Pipeline Construction Safety Training course. In 2022, the online education modules saw 20,160 learners enrol.

BuildForce Canada also received funding from the Government of Canada to “develop an online construction industry data hub.” The hub will be used to “disseminate career resources, resources for matching job seekers with employers and construction labour market information.”

The expected launch date of the hub is March 2024.