Construction labour in Canada is near 100% utilization in Canada. There is no glut of qualified construction tradespeople just sitting around waiting for funding. So on its own without qualification the answer to your question is approximately zero more homes than would otherwise be built.
Construction labour in Canada is near 100% utilization in Canada.
True but there are other ways to spend money that doesn’t involve having more construction happening at once. For example, buying land to be used for non-market housing. This one taken seriously would dry up the whole 73B already. Buy already built properties, give more financial incentives for multi-family housing, etc. There’s a long list of things of expensive solutions waiting.
Send that money to provinces tied to strict usage rules towards transit oriented development and non-market housing. For example, Translink needs funding and expanding mass transit is one way to improve the housing crisis.
Why are we not training more construction workers? Do they expect the immigration growth will bring the houses with them?
If you look here, you’ll see that all the trades involved in housing construction are on the list for fast-track immigration already.
As for training, we may find that it’s more the number of people leaving the trades that is the problem. It’s not that the pay is bad, exactly, but it’s an industry extremely prone to boom/bust cycles. People leave for jobs with some sense of stability. Increasing unionization and enhancing EI might be more cost effective than funding more training.
Having done it m youth it is also very hard on your body. Not everyone can do it for decades on end as injuries can pile up. My father was an electrician for 30 yrs but eventually his knees gave out on him and his hands. He used to have forearms like Popeye but now has difficulty gripping anything because of repetitive injury to his thumbs.
Thats interesting, wasn’t aware of the cyclical nature! I thought that construction happens all year round? Or is it due to poor staffing?
