The construction industry strains against the shortage of apprentices as a strong regional economy bulldozes its way through the northeast.
“We’re definitely scrambling to get them, as we do need them across all construction trades,” Ron Martin, executive director of the Sudbury Construction Association, says.
“Quite often, we used to rely on people to move around from area to area but now, with hospital projects popping up all over, that’s not really an option.”
As the senior representative of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America’s (UBCJA) Local 2486, Tom Cardinal agrees, noting that a flurry of big-ticket projects in the region may well be delayed as a result of a lack of skilled workers.
Cardinal expects there will be a shortage of at least 50 drywall technicians to work on the North Bay Regional Health Centre construction in the coming months.
This trend may well continue through the next several years, he says, given the union’s expectation of several mines moving into production, and potential expansion plans from Vale Inco and Xstrata. Other factors include the Ontario government’s plans to conduct $750 million worth of work on dams on the Upper and Lower Mattagami River. Both are expected to be labor-intensive projects, Cardinal says.
“There’s a lot of work coming up and we gotta supply the manpower to it,” he says.
The UBCJA is looking to build a training facility in Azilda, 15 kilometres northeast of Sudbury.
The 8,400-square-foot training facility will be geared towards upgrading the skills of the union’s members, and will offer a wide variety of courses on such topics as blueprint reading, laser auto-levels, ceilings, as well as safety training.
Due to be completed later this year, the $1.3 million site is being built with $488,000 with assistance from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, with the rest being funded by union members.
Cardinal says the facility will not duplicate services offered by the college, and will help keep members in the North instead of having to travel to southern Ontario to upgrade their skills.Sudbury’s Cambrian College has seen the carpentry program packed to capacity, with seven back-to-back carpentry sessions a year, where as many as 20 students attend each session.
Randy Rouleau, instructor of carpentry at Cambrian College, says the program’s catchment area reaches from as far west as Sault Ste. Marie and northwards to Timmins.
“It’s been ramping up for the last four years, mainly because of the shortage of licensed workers,” he says.
“I’d say 60 per cent of them come from the unions, and the rest come from residential construction companies.”
Attendance capacity has hit the ceiling because of a lack of space, however, Rouleau is confident the school is meeting industry’s demand, though this may change if interest continues to increase.
Access to suitable numbers of local carpentry staff has been a concern, not just for local firms and organizations, but for outside companies looking to engage in new construction. The workforce shortage is expected to continue for several years at least, Martin says, particularly because apprentices require up to 8,000 hours of training.
