VANCOUVER—A city policy requiring developers to fill 10 per cent of their entry-level jobs with Vancouver residents is drawing sharp criticism from industry leaders.

Following StarMetro’s reporting in July on priority hiring, Vancouver announced last Tuesday that it has become the first city in Canada to require local hiring and purchasing on major development projects.

The measure is intended to help “ensure that Vancouver residents, particularly those who may face barriers to employment,” and local businesses benefit from large-scale developments, said Mayor Gregor Robertson in a statement.

Jason Turcotte, vice-president of development at Cressey Development Group in Vancouver, said the policy is arriving at a bad time for the industry. He anticipates the direct impact of the policy will be small, mainly because it applies to rezoning applications for sites exceeding 485,000 square feet — roughly the equivalent of two standard 30-storey condominiums. Only a few of those are built each year, he explained.

But his main concern is the possibility that the requirement becomes standard for all rezoning. Turcotte said it would add pressure in an environment where building in Vancouver is already “exceptionally expensive” and costs are “escalating in an unsustainable way.”

“We are already facing macroeconomic challenges such as the labour shortages, trade wars, tariffs, you name it, the import costs of goods is being affected, so what we’re seeing aside from government involvement on the municipal level is a major challenge in trying to build housing right now,” Turcotte said.

Besides, he said, some developers like Cressey don’t have control over entry-level hiring. Cressey staff fill management positions on projects, but most of the hiring is done by subcontractors. The requirement could mean perceived risk to the subcontractors if they’re unable to fulfil the hiring goal and thus drive up costs.

According to the city, three to four large development sites could create more than 4,000 entry-level positions and generate approximately $14 million in income. This effect would “directly support a diverse range of local businesses.”

Enforcement is also a concern for Turcotte.

“How do I, as a developer, know whether my subtrade is actually doing that? They might tell me that they are,” he said. “But I don’t know if they have or haven’t. Then the question becomes ... what are the repercussions? ... Is there a penalty? Do they face delays, potentially? Stop working? Where there isn’t an obvious answer, you assume the worst.”

Mary Clare Zak, managing director of social policy at the city, said they don’t have evidence that any rise in construction costs will occur.

“We know from experience that that’s not the case,” Zak said. “If we go through this and we see that it’s an issue around costs, we can take a look at it, because it’s not been the experience.”

She also emphasized that the hiring requirement would not preclude non-Vancouver residents, though they want to hire “as close to home as possible.”

Within the 10 per cent hiring goal, developers need to prioritize those in groups “treated differently” because of their gender, faith, immigration status, level of education, economic status or sexual orientation.

All of this will be enforced through an independent third-party monitor hired by the city, but Zak did not specify who that would be.

The goals are “way too little,” said Lisa Langevin, president of the BC Tradeswomen Society, who advocated for priority hiring at the municipal level. She said the requirement leaves out tradeswomen who are already at journey-level.

“It doesn’t help the retention of women at all … Increasing the number of women coming in doesn’t help if they can’t get jobs after they become journey level.”

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Langevin pointed to Boston as a city with more effective policies. For ongoing projects, its goals are 10 per cent of the workforce made up of women, 25 per cent people of colour and 50 per cent residents.

In addressing Langevin’s concerns around retaining women in the trades, Zak said the city’s labour shortage will motivate employers to retain workers.

“In terms of that kind of ongoing opportunity, that’s something we could look at starting to measure.”

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