Without a huge increase in the construction industry labour force, there is no hope of building the number of homes that would be required to keep pace with Prince Edward Island’s population growth, says the Construction Association of P.E.I.

The latest population figures from Statistics Canada show the province gained 7,755 people from April to April, a growth rate of 4.6 per cent. Given an average household size of 2.3 people, that equals a requirement for more than 3,300 new apartment or condo units and single-family houses.

And that is not feasible, said Sam Sanderson, general manager of the Construction Association of P.E.I.

“Three thousand homes is an unrealistic number in this market space, with the labour force that we have. It’s a pipe dream,” said Sanderson.

“To build at the rate that is really required, we would probably — and this would only be an estimate — we’d need at least a couple more thousand people, new people to the industry.”

Since people started talking about a housing crisis on the Island in 2018, the industry has had some success in growing the workforce. In 2018 the workforce averaged about 6,000, and has added a little over 1,000 since.

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