{"id":6502,"date":"2017-02-13T08:41:30","date_gmt":"2017-02-13T08:41:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ontarioconstructionreport.com\/?p=6502"},"modified":"2017-02-13T08:46:52","modified_gmt":"2017-02-13T08:46:52","slug":"buildforce-major-projects-keep-ontairos-construction-workforce-going-strong-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ontarioconstructionreport.com\/buildforce-major-projects-keep-ontairos-construction-workforce-going-strong-2\/","title":{"rendered":"BuildForce: Major projects keep Ontairo’s construction workforce going strong"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ontario Construction Report staff writer<\/p>\n

Major infrastructure, transportation and utility projects are creating a decade’s worth of work for Ontario’s construction workforce. These projects will sustain employment over the next ten years, while the impending wave of baby boom retirements becomes the bigger challenge for industry, according to the latest labour market forecast released in late January by BuildForce Canada<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“Ontario is losing as many as 86,000 workers this decade to retirement,” said BuildForce executive director Rosemary Sparks. “It’s a huge loss of skill and experience that requires a concerted effort to attract more youth, women and Indigenous people to construction as well as workers from outside the province.”<\/p>\n

Between now and 2020, labour demands in the province will intensify for current and planned infrastructure and major engineering projects.<\/p>\n

“Labour mobility across regions will be key in meeting rising demands for specialized trades,” Sparks said.<\/p>\n

BuildForce Canada’s 2017-2026 Construction and Maintenance Looking Forward<\/em> forecast shows that while the pace of construction is projected to slow in Ontario, major projects will sustain construction employment at near record levels over the next decade. From an international bridge in Windsor to nuclear refurbishment and transit expansion in the Greater Toronto Area and Ottawa, infrastructure projects will surpass residential building as the primary source of construction job growth in many regions of Ontario. Construction employment is expected to peak in 2020, marking the plateau of a 25-year expansion that has doubled the size Ontario’s construction workforce.<\/p>\n

Forecast highlights including the following:<\/p>\n