Date: 07 September 2022

Rick Omond's construction company in New Brunswick has given three pay raises over the last year and a half as it tries to hold on to workers in the midst of a record labour shortage. "Workers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers — they know how busy it is. And it's a daily battle that they're looking for more money," said Omond, the vice-president of Newco Construction in Moncton. Omond says he could hire six carpenters and labourers right now — if he could find them. And without a full team, he says, projects are taking longer to complete. The labour shortage that took off during the pandemic is far from over. According to Statistics Canada, there were 915,500 unfilled positions in the fourth quarter of 2021. That's up by 63 per cent compared to 2020. Jobs are also staying vacant for longer, with almost half of vacancies remaining unfilled for 60 days. In 2020, 36 per cent of job openings stayed vacant for that long. Some of the hardest to fill occupations include servers, construction labourers and social workers. This shortage in skills is costing the Canadian economy billions of dollars, according to a report by the Conference Board of Canada. The report estimates the unrealized value of skills vacancies to have been $25 billion in 2020, up from $15 billion in 2015. Newco Construction welcomes aspiring trades people and invites home those who have travelled west for employment over the past number of years!

Media Contact

Contact Person: Meg Rossiter
Contact Email: mrossiter@newco.ca