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In the midst of a housing shortage, P.E.I.’s construction industry is trying to keep up with demand while dealing with a shortfall of 300 workers, members of the legislative assembly heard on Tuesday.

There are currently close to 300 unfilled construction positions across P.E.I., according to Sam Sanderson, the general manager of the Construction Association of P.E.I.

And with an aging workforce, this shortage is expected to grow even more over the coming years.

“It’s the number one issue facing the construction industry in P.E.I.” Sanderson told the legislature.

"We have to do anything and everything we can to encourage and entice our youth, our women, our Indigenous communities and our newcomers to look at the trades sector."

A BuildForce Canada report released in January estimated the Island’s construction industry is slated to lose 1,500 workers, or a quarter of the current labour force, to retirement between now and 2028.

If current trends are maintained, only 1,200 younger workers will replace them.

How many trades-people are we training and retaining?

Graduates in 2018 Number who stayed in P.E.I. Number of survey respondents

Construction Technology: 8 4 7

Carpentry: 22 15 15

Construction Electrical: 24 15 16

Plumbing/Pipefitting: 18 4 8

Welding Fabrication: 22 11 12

Large-scale projects such as new schools and a new Hillsborough Hospital will also place further demands on the construction industry.

“I don’t know if we can handle it,” Sanderson said.

“Everybody’s stressed, everybody’s tired. Everybody’s working hard.”

Sanderson said trained carpenters and site supervisors are the most in-demand workers right now.

The Construction Association currently sponsors programs to encourage young people, newcomers and women to enter the trades, but Sanderson said more should be done to reach high school and junior high students.

“For a long time, the construction industry was considered a second class industry, second class employment. That is no longer the case,” he said.

The Construction Association is currently conducting a survey of local wage rates in the construction industry on P.E.I.

Based on the preliminary findings, entry-level labourers make on average $15-$18 per hour while red seal carpenters make $20-$33 per hour.

But when asked by Charlottetown-Brighton MLA Ole Hammarlund about which programs he believed were successful in training carpenters, electricians and other tradespeople, Sanderson did not bring up Holland College.

Holland College currently graduates an average of 24 carpenters per year.

"I can't answer anymore to that question because I'm not really familiar - I can only comment on what I'm involved with here on a regular basis," Sanderson said.

Sandy MacDonald, president of Holland College, said most trades programs have a wait list of students who wish to enrol in their programs.

Holland College president Sandy MacDonald, right, and vice-president corporate services Doug Currie take questions from MLAs during a standing committee at the Coles Building on Aug. 27, 2019.

For carpentry, the wait list is currently 27 students, beyond the projected 2019/2020 enrolment of 28 students.

However the number of graduates in the carpentry program has decreased slightly since 2014, despite the current shortage of workers.

MacDonald said this is partly because carpentry is a trade that does not require red seal certification.

"It's more susceptible to the lure of the labour market," MacDonald said.

"You can learn carpentry at the foot of someone who is a carpenter."

MacDonald said the college attempted to increase the number of seats in the program to 36 eight years ago but could not fill the spots.

"We've never been overwhelmed with students in carpentry," MacDonald said.

Some trades programs at the college have seen a decline in graduates in the last five years.

The construction electrical program has seen its number of graduates decline from 42 to 24 since 2014.

On the other hand, graduates from the welding fabrication program rose from 11 to 22 during the same period.

"I'll be interested to see, come the end of September, how many students we have in carpentry. It will be full, but I don't think there's going to be a huge waiting list," MacDonald said.

Stu.neatby@theguardian.pe.ca

Twitter.com/stu_neatby