Construction is a crystal ball industry – it’s about figuring our costs and demands tomorrow to determine the bids you’ll make today. And with labour one of the biggest cost components of any project, it’s good to know the lay of the land.
The Construction Sector Council looks at as many indicators as possible from across the country to get a read on the kinds of skills the industry will need up until the beginning of the next decade. One clear message is there’s a long list of trades working on the big resource and utility projects – often in the North – that will be in short supply as projects start up between 2013 to 2016.
These projects will attract workers from the Lower Mainland and other provinces – which means even more intense competition for skilled labour.
The biggest challenges will come in the following trades:
- boilermakers
- construction managers
- electricians
- insulators
- ironworkers
- millwrights
- plumbers
- sheet metal workers
- steamfitters and pipefitters
You can access the BC report here.
