Industry says building 1.5M homes in Ontario a ‘daunting’ target
Posted Feb 23, 2023 01:30:00 AM.
In the next 10 years, the Ontario government wants to build 1.5 million homes, a feat the construction industry is saying will require a massive boost to the labour market.
A skilled labour shortage is going to threaten the industry's ability to hit those targets, according to Richard Lyall, president of Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON), an association of residential builders in Ontario.
Lyall, speaking on The Sam Laprade Show with guest host Cormac MacSweeney, said there are many systemic problems impacting the labour supply – retiring baby boomers, young people not entering the trades, and not enough immigrants coming in with trades training.
“It's looking pretty daunting at this stage,” said Lyall of hitting the province's target. “There are efforts underway to address it. But will it be in time, given all the other factors, that remains to be seen.”
Though the labour shortage will be a challenge going forward, Lyall blames a failure in planning at all levels of government for the current housing crisis that's forcing such an ambitious construction goal on the province.
“Housing planning has been disconnected from things like immigration and transit planning because you've got different levels of government and different agencies responsible for those things, and they don't necessarily work well together,” said Lyall.
Even while changes are being made to improve barriers to development, something Lyall believes the Ontario government is working hard on, their intended effects won't be felt right away.
“As I like to say, it takes takes a while to turn a supertanker around,” said Lyall.
Listen to the full interview with Richard Lyall on The Sam Laprade Show below.
