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Even though the average yearly wage for construction workers is up 14% since the start of the pandemic, reaching $66,591, the shortage of labour is one of the biggest problems facing the industry.

In a survey of its members, the B.C. Construction Association found that, while the value of construction is 17% higher than pre-pandemic levels, the number of employees is down 9% from 2019.

The survey data is not broken down by region but the Thompson-Okanagan is no exception.

“We’re hearing from every corner of the province that there’s a shortage of workers in the construction industry – of skilled trades, of project managers, of estimators,” association president Chris Atchison told iNFOnews.ca “There’s a real shortage of workers in all areas of the province for sure.”

There are good, longstanding, reasons for the shortfall.

For one thing, the workforce has been aging and not being replaced by younger workers, which is typical of most Canadian industries these days.

But the construction sector has suffered from the fact that it’s been 95% white male dominated, Atchison said.

“The industry itself is taking strides to attract and retain more underrepresented groups,” he said. “We know we have to continue to change the culture of the construction industry by making it safe and inclusive to everyone and hospitable to everyone. We are doing those things but it will take a bit of time.”

Women made up slightly more than 6% of the construction workforce going into the pandemic but that number has fallen below 6% now.

Foreign workers generally don’t have their qualifications recognized so they will have to challenge tests in B.C. or recertify.

There are now courses available to improve safety training and basic language skills for foreign workers.

“Our experience is that employers are now aware that new Canadians need to have the credentials that are recognizable to Canadian standards and British Columbian standards for, first and foremost, they need to be able to operate safely and productively in a Canadian workplace,” Atchison said. “More and more employers are waking up to the realization that safety is the universal language. As soon as we can ensure that worksites are safe, the other accommodations for new Canadians are pretty easy to accommodate.”

READ MORE: A few reasons why new housing is so expensive in the Okanagan

Atchison would not say how much the labour shortage is costing the provincial construction industry, which contributes 22% or $23 billion to the provincial gross domestic product.

“The cost is substantial, but not as significant as the risk premiums that contractors may be putting onto contracts because of their fear of not being paid on time, which is our other major issue in the survey,” Atchison said.

“Any time they’re having to wait 60 to 90 days for payment for work that they’ve completed, that’s going to be a hardship for their workers, for their suppliers. It becomes problematic for the whole ecosystem.”

That is one major contributing factor for the 66% of workers who responded to the survey said they are “less likely to recommend a career in construction this year.”

Another major factor in workers having that attitude is the fact that construction continued through COVID so there was no time for the industry as a whole to pause and reflect on what changes it needed to make going forward, Atchison said.

“Everyone seems to be feeling some sort of pressure – whether it was the inability to get training when they wanted it, whether it was the inability of our contractors to get paid on time, whether it was the rising costs,” he said. “Every stakeholder group that we interviewed had some challenges within the system that are causing them to rethink. And this is coming after two years of the construction industry doing everything it could to contribute to the economy of British Columbia by being non-health care essential.”

So, where does that leave the industry going forward.

“Construction is booming so, what do we have to be concerned about?” Atchison said. “We’ve still got a lot of little things and big things that we need to continue to work on.”

For more on the survey, go here.

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