A looming labour shortage has led construction industry leaders to gather millions of dollars for scholarships to get more people into the industry.

Heads of SAIT, home builder Jayman Built and industry association BILD Alberta made the announcement of a scholarship fund of more than $7 million to help 1,400 students pursue training in construction on Tuesday.

Jay Westman, chief executive officer of Jayman Built, said the scholarships are to help shore up job vacancy rates that have been climbing “at an alarming rate” since the turn of the century, “making this the single biggest and most challenging problem the industry has ever faced.”

Westman said the decline in the number of tradespeople has tripled the build time for homes.

“In other words, we’re not building any more homes, it’s just taking longer,” Westman said.

Drawing on his more than four decades in home construction, Westman said recent increases in interest rates to below historic highs is likely to defer demand.

And he said construction materials like lumber have experienced supply chain shocks that have seen prices rise and fall, but labour availability has continued to worsen, driving up waits and wages.

The Jayman Built CEO said he worked with other construction and home building companies to gather funds for the scholarship, setting a new goal of $15 million, helping about 3,000 students of all backgrounds.

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