As students return to school, an employment shortage has Ottawa’s skilled labour industry encouraging them to consider the trades as a career path. 

Many tradespeople are hitting retirement age, industry experts say, and there aren’t enough young people signing up to fill those jobs.

“We’re feeling the effects now from an entire generation or two, you know, not going into the trades in the numbers that we needed them to,” said Jason Burggraaf, executive director of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders Association.

The industry has been sounding the alarm bells for the last decade, Burggraaf said, and with the housing market remaining hot during the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for labour hasn’t abated.

He said the issue is especially clear when builders subcontract out certain jobs like framing or roofing, and the companies doing those jobs are also short on workers. 

“You can’t necessarily rely on the long-standing relationships you have with some companies, because they just don’t have the manpower,” Burggraaf said.

It’s an issue being felt across different trade sectors, and it’s delaying the timelines of some projects. 

Buildforce Canada, an organization that tracks labour market information, estimates that by the end of the decade the industry will need to hire, train, and retain more than 116,000 additional workers to keep pace with expected demand growth and retirements.

Ottawa will need to see at least 800 new workers a year enter the industry, Burggraaf said, something he doesn’t believe will happen.

Adam Melnick, program director with the Unionized Building and Construction Trades Council of Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec, says while the industry is in need of more workers, it needs to be clear about where it needs them — and not oversaturate certain sectors.

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