Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It's Kevin Lee here. I'm the CEO of the Canadian Home Builders' Association.
CHBA is the voice of Canada's residential construction industry. We represent some 9,000 member firms from coast to coast, including home builders, renovators, trade contractors, product and material manufacturers, and building suppliers and services. CHBA is one association working at three levels—nationally, provincially and locally. We have over 50 constituent associations at the local and provincial levels.
I am joined here today by my colleague Mike Collins-Williams, CEO of the West End Home Builders' Association, our constituent association in the Hamilton-Halton region. Mike will be bringing some local context to our opening remarks and to any questions that the committee may have.
As you may know, our industry is experiencing chronic labour shortages like so many others are. It's something that we faced prior to the pandemic. These labour shortages are causing delays in construction of much-needed supply, with 71% of our membership facing those delays, according to our housing market index.
Approximately 20% of our labour force is set to retire over the next decade. That means the sector will need to recruit more than 148,000 new workers to keep pace with retirements and demand. However, only about 107,000 of those workers are expected to be available from traditional sources, leaving a shortfall of about 30%. A large portion of new recruitment will therefore need to come from groups traditionally under-represented in the construction labour force, including women, indigenous people and new Canadians.
I should note that the data for this comes from BuildForce Canada, a national industry-led organization that represents all sectors in construction to support labour market development in the industry. Unfortunately, the funding that BuildForce normally receives to develop its LMI under the sectoral initiatives program at ESDC was denied this year, as it was for many LMI organizations in different sectors. BuildForce is now having to reapply under a new initiative, where again its funding is uncertain. I'd like to point out that at a time when the home construction industry, like many others, is facing serious labour challenges, it's important that we get these LMI funding mechanisms back in place.
Regarding actions to address the skills shortages themselves, CHBA asks that the government continue all actions to promote careers in skilled trades, to support training and to provide financial supports to companies and individuals with respect to skilled workers. A good example is the new Canadian apprenticeship service. Our association is continually working to address the skilled trades gap, and government supports of this nature are very beneficial.
Given the shortfall that we expect in labour from domestic pools, CHBA is asking the government to improve the immigration system for skilled workers through permanent immigration options. This can be done by enhancing the selection of immigrants with skilled trades credentials or construction experience to ensure that the residential construction sector will receive its proportionate share of newcomers. It's also critical that skilled labour allocations for immigration be increased and that pathways from temporary workers to permanent workers be streamlined.
CHBA is also working on a new initiative to increase our renovation industry’s capacity to adapt homes for aging in place, a key support to seniors and the health care system. I’d be happy to expand on that if it is of interest to the committee.
I'd like to pass it over to my colleague Mike to say a few words.