METRO VANCOUVER - B.C. is headed for a construction boom not seen since 2008, with record spending plans for condos and apartment towers across the province, particularly in Metro Vancouver, where demand for housing continues to outstrip supply.

The value of Metro building permits for multi-family dwellings issued in March hit a record high, according to Statistics Canada.

That is expected to generate an economic windfall in terms of jobs and spending — if the industry can find people to do the work, as the province experiences a skilled labour shortage in the construction sector.

"The rule of thumb is five full-time jobs for every housing start," said Bob de Wit, CEO of the Greater Vancouver Homebuilders' Association. "There are 20,000 housing starts so that's 100,000 jobs. It's a huge impact."

The situation is the strongest construction surge in the past seven years, de Wit said, although it's "not quite the boom we had" mainly because the undersupply in the housing market is not at the same scale as it was in the last decade.

However, with a million people moving to Metro Vancouver in the next 30 years, he noted the spike in demand is likely to continue. The latest starts alone will mean another 10,000 jobs over last year, with an average salary of $50,000-$60,000 — money that will be spent on goods and services across the province.

"The multiplying effect on the economy is pretty significant," de Wit said.

Metro Vancouver is expected to see the biggest gains, with the total value of permits nearly doubling to $979 million, up from $496 million in the same month last year. Nearly half of that figure was for multi-family dwelling permits, the highest level yet at $509 million, said Mariane Bien-Aime, an analyst with Statistics Canada.

The total value of Metro building permits reached an all time high in October at $1.2 billion.

Been-Aime said the majority of the permits for multi-family dwellings went to apartments and condominiums, followed by semi-detached homes and row houses.

In Metro Vancouver, the major projects are slated along the region's rapid transit lines, particularly at Burnaby's Metrotown, but also along the Canada Line on Vancouver's Cambie Street and in Richmond, and along the Evergreen Line in the Tri-Cities.

"There's a lot of action happening," de Wit said, noting Metro Vancouver accounts for about 80 per cent of the gains. "The market is hot and busy. As we increase supply, (housing will) become more affordable."

Elsewhere, building permit values also nearly doubled in Kelowna, to about $62 million from about $34 million, while they dropped slightly year over year in Abbotsford-Mission and Victoria.

But the boom comes with a hitch: As construction is set to take off in Metro Vancouver and the Okanagan, the B.C. Construction Association says there is a shortage of construction workers, and that by 2023 there will be more than 26,000 unfilled jobs in the sector, as employees retire and fewer workers enter the industry.

Association president Manley McLachlan said the association did a recent survey of construction employers, and more than 70 per cent of the companies in the Lower Mainland said they would be hiring this year.