Finding enough workers to assemble pre-built walls and floors at the Etobicoke plant where Paul Askett manages manufacturing is a grind.
He’s hoping that a record wave of new Canadians expected over the next three years will help. Demand for the factory’s product — installed in Ontario housing — is surging, but Askett says the assembly floor crew is usually short by about 10 per cent.
“It’s definitely been a hurdle. That’s for sure. The pandemic has kind of changed everything for us,” said Askett, the vice- president of manufacturing for Brockport Home Systems.
This construction business is one of many sectors struggling to find workers, with about one million jobs sitting vacant across the country.
To help, Canada has just announced record immigration targets — 1.5-million new Canadians within the next three years — with plans to bring in 500,000 people in 2025. Federal officials say that will help boost the economy, but the targets have also spiked anxiety about where all these new citizens will make their homes, given the country’s ongoing housing crisis.
Soon-to-be new Canadians listen during a citizenship oath ceremony on Canada Day in 2019, at the Calgary airport. Federal officials say the plan to increase the number of immigrants Canada welcomes will help boost the economy. (Stephen Lubig/CBC)
Newcomers need more than just housing
Askett says he’s encouraged by the new targets as his company often hires and trains new Canadians.
“For us it’s definitely positive news,” he said. “Yeah, we look forward to any newcomers because we can coach, we can train and advance people and hopefully give them gainful employment.”
Vancouver property tax expert Paul Sullivan, of Ryan ULC, a global business tax software and real estate consulting firm, says Canada needs a better plan to both boost a battered economy and ensure there’s enough housing and services for incoming Canadians.
“We build approximately 265,000 homes per year. And here we are talking about 500,000 immigrants coming in per year. We’re under supplied before we even talk about this immigrant influx,” said Sullivan.
“It’s not just houses, it’s daycares, it’s transit, it’s hospitals. What’s the plan, guys? Like, you can’t just keep throwing people at it.”
A construction worker stands on a lift in a new housing development in Ottawa in October. An influx of new citizens is more likely to affect rents than house prices, according to data experts. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
New immigrants won’t impact home prices: expert
While some worry that a record influx of new citizens will spike house prices even higher — data experts say that fear has no solid foundation.
Murtaza Haider, director of the Urban Analytics Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University, studies the data around immigration and real estate in Canada.
Most new immigrants … would not have cash or enough savings to go and start buying homes. I don’t expect them to exert pressure on housing prices as much, but more so on the rental demand.– Murtaza Haider, Urban Analytics Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University
Haider says previous studies suggest the federal plan to up immigration by about 150,000 to 200,000 extra people per year (living in households of three or four), will have little impact.
“My guess is that most new immigrants will … not have cash or enough savings to go and start buying homes,” he said.
“I don’t expect them to exert pressure on housing prices as much, but more so on the rental demand.”
Haider said it takes about two or three years for new immigrants to become active in the ownership cycle.
“So if we’re bringing in half a million immigrants in 2023 and another half a million in 2024, I would assume that they would be putting pressure on ownership or owned housing in the year to 2026, 2027.”
He said past studies — and the experience during lock downs when housing markets overheated during the pandemic, when immigration was frozen — prove immigration is not what spikes housing costs.
“By December 2020 we had an unprecedented increase in housing prices in Canada at a time when there was almost zero immigration because airports were closed.”
Workers hammer on part of a low rise unit installed by Brockport Home Systems in Ontario. Labour data forecasts show that the Canadian construction industry will need to recruit 171,850 workers by 2027. (Brockport Home Systems/HomeTech)
Housing shortage goes back decades
Haider believes the real cause of the housing shortage is a systemic failure to ensure enough stock was constructed, a problem he says goes back decades.
“Governments have woken up to the realization that we have not built enough housing at the bottom,” he said.
BuildForce Canada, an organization that studies labour force data for the construction industry, forecasts that the Canadian construction industry will need more than 1.2-million workers and need to recruit 171,850 workers by 2027. They expect to be short by 29,000 workers once baby boomers retire.
Between 2016 and 2021, immigrants made up four-fifths of Canada’s labour force growth. More than half of recent immigrants — 748,120 of the 1.3 million people admitted to Canada between 2016 and 2021 — entered the country under the economic category.
“Immigration is the primary driver of population growth in Canada. Now, in order for us and our economy and businesses to grow, they need more workers,” said Haider.
Ricardo Tranjan, a political economist and senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, says vigorous immigration is crucial to more than just the construction industry; newcomers infuse the economy with life, he says, and Canada has always relied on immigration to meet labour force needs.
“The labour shortage that we are seeing right now — which is one of the factors that is impacting the rise in inflation — is in part due to the fact that in the past couple of years we have not welcomed enough immigrants into the country. So the fact that we are going to have high targets and try to attract more, it’s good news.”
Census figures released last month revealed that immigrants and permanent residents now account for 23 per cent of Canada’s population — an all-time high.
According to Statistics Canada, immigrants who arrived between 2016 and 2021 are younger on average than the rest of the population and have been critical to filling jobs.
A citizenship judge speaks to new Canadians during a virtual citizenship ceremony on Canada Day 2020. Census figures released last month revealed immigrants and permanent residents now account for 23 per cent of the population — an all-time high. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
Initial pressure will be in rental market
Economists say any pressure on housing markets from incoming Canadians initially shows up in rental markets, and Tranjan said stricter vacancy and rent controls could help alleviate soaring rents.
“Canada has very loose legislation around increases in rents in many provinces,” he said.
“Rents can go up by any amount from one year to another. Almost no provinces have rent controls on vacant units and all of that really drives the prices up.”
Tsur Somerville, professor at the Sauder School of Business Strategy, says that historically, newcomers settle in cities like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, where housing markets are already stressed, so concern about what increased immigration means for housing is not out of place.
“If you bring in a lot of people who are competing in the market, folks at the bottom, the poorest folks are going to be the ones who really get hurt,” he said.
Though some municipalities are already streamlining building approvals, or now allowing laneway homes to increase density, more rental units are needed, according to experts and builders.
But builders say they can’t help ease the housing crunch without workers.
Tad Putyra, president of Great Gulf Low Rise, the parent company of the chronically short-staffed Etobicoke pre-fab plant Brockport Home Systems, says the pre-built walls and floors they manufacture help offset the lack of skilled trade workers on construction sites because the product can be built no matter the weather, but not without workers.
That’s why he applauds Canada’s record-high immigration targets, saying it’s good for business.
“You know it’s a chicken and egg situation,” he said. “We need people to build the houses which eventually will be occupied, you know, by the people who build them and vice versa.”
Construction workers build new homes in a development in Ottawa. Industry officials have largely applauded the federal government’s new immigration targets, saying it’s good for business. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
