Canada is losing tens of thousands of constructions jobs

globalnews.ca:

immigration targets each year and the government is getting ready to welcome more people who work in skilled trades. But Canada continues to lose tens of thousands of jobs in the construction sector, according to recent data.According to Statistics Canada’s jobs data released on Friday, the Canadian construction industry saw a loss of 45,000 jobs in July.

This was a drop of 2.8 percent from the previous month.“In construction, employment decreased by 45,000 (-2.8%) in July, following a smaller decline of 14,000 (-0.8%) in June. Since January 2023, employment in construction decreased by 71,000, offsetting cumulative increases of 65,000 from September 2022 to January 2023,” the latest Labour Force Survey read.Construction has lost more jobs than all major sectors, followed by public administration; information, culture, and recreation as well as transportation and warehousing.The construction industry is short tens of thousands of workers, and experts say a coming wave of retirements could make the problem worse.Meanwhile, Canada is millions of homes behind what’s needed to reach affordability this decade.The job vacancy rate in construction is at a record high with around 80,000 in the industry, said CIBC deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal in a recent note.Those vacancies, which push up building costs and impede productivity, come at a time when the residential construction industry is under pressure to meet the demands of a growing population.A spokesperson for newly-appointed Immigration Minister Marc Miller has said fulfilling Canada’s labour shortages is one of his key priorities, and a key goal of the government’s immigration targets.“Strategies like Express Entry, and the historic Immigration Levels Plan, which is