The Government has been advised not to let incentive for construction apprentice training slip if it introduces a special KiwiBuild visa to attract overseas workers.

A Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) briefing released under the Official Information Act, told Building and Construction Minister Jenny Salesa​, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway and Employment Minister Willie Jackson that a migrant workers visa specifically to build KiwiBuild​ homes, should be included in a "wider package of policy changes".

The ministry advised them to continue using immigration as a valve to release immediate pressure on construction companies that were battling to find qualified trades staff to build the growing number of projects here.

TAMARA VONINSKI/SMH The Government is considering creating a specified work visa to attract overseas construction workers to help build 100,000 homes over 10 years.

But the ministrywarned that migrant workers were just a quick fix, and lessons should be learned from the post-Christchurch earthquake rebuild.

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MBIE compared a KiwiBuild visa to the immigration changes made in 2011 to attract overseas workers to meet construction demand in Canterbury.

DAVID UNWIN/STUFF Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says the Government will invest in trades training despite plans to hire migrants for KiwiBuild.

The construction industry's struggle to recruit locally for the Canterbury rebuild and Auckland's infrastructure boom, had made it easier for companies to bring in workers from overseas on an 'essentials skills' work visa.

Lees-Galloway said last week that migrant workers would be needed to meet KiwiBuild target to build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 years.

Construction firms had borne the brunt of under investment in trades skills and had to rely on immigration for workers.

BRADEN FASTIER/STUFF Transport Minister Phil Twyford unveiled the cash boost on Thursday.

"That is the challenge for the construction industry. They often find when they are going through a boom cycle that they do need skilled people in a hurry and that is often where a reliance on immigration comes in."

But construction firms were not too reliant on the immigration system, he said.

He said training apprentices would not be forgotten when KiwiBuild begins.

"There is an opportunity here for us to plan for the skill needs that we are going to have over the next decade."

MBIE said KiwiBuild was an opportunity to get young people on benefits into jobs and fix the wider trades worker shortage problem.

"It is important to ensure that the incentives remain for business to employ and train New Zealanders," the ministry said.

Housing Minister Phil Twyford said late last year that some KiwiBuild homes would be built by mid-2018.

MBIE was due to provide a more in-depth briefing to the Government at the end of this month.