Residential-construction sector will need to recruit 107,900 workers by 2031: BuildForce Canada

The residential sector will need to hire 107,900 workers by 2031, according to a new study by BuildForce Canada. The report looked at employment forecasts and trends in the residential sector of Canada’s construction industry.

Retirement was the biggest driving factor of the need for more employees in the construction sector. BuildForce expects approximately 128,400 residential workers to retire by 2031 with only an estimated 102,100 workers aged 30 and younger to enter the industry in that decade, which will leave the industry 5,800 workers short.

According to the report, employment in the residential sector rebounded in 2021 from the impacts of COVID-19. The biggest driving factors of employment was the increased demand for new-start construction (new homes and initiating new projects) and renewed renovation activity. The number of starts on new builds rose from 208,680 in 2019 to 218,100 units in 2020. BuildForce says that these demand for new-builds and renovations increased employment by 50,000 workers in 2021.

The study reports that new-home construction accounted for 60 percent of total residential construction investment in 2021, but expects that number to decline to 49 percent by 2031.

BuildForce Canada is a national industry-led organization that provides information and resources to the construction industry. The organization was created in 2001 and provides yearly summary reports on the construction industry and its workforce.

To download the full summary of BuildForce Canada’s 2022 to 2027 Construction and Maintenance Looking Forward forecast and analyses visit https://www.buildforce.ca/en/lmi/forecast-summary-reports.