Those who have lost their homes from wildfires in Canada may have a long wait ahead of them before having a new place to call home.

Canada’s ongoing housing crisis and construction labour shortages are affecting how quickly homes can be rebuilt, experts told Global News.

“(Wildfires) are putting a great strain on the system, and that includes the construction and renovation industry,” said Glenn McGillivray, the managing director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR). The institute works to help Canadians deal with natural disasters.

McGillivray said some homes hit by natural disasters a couple of years ago, including in Barrie, Ont., which saw a tornado in 2021, still aren’t repaired. That’s not to mention the town of Lytton, B.C., which was destroyed by a wildfire in 2021. McGillivray said that reconstruction has barely started there.

Wildfires have also threatened hard-to-reach places, such as Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. McGillivray said it is costlier to get materials up there and to attract labour there, as well.

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