“We have great opportunities and partnerships within the community to make the trades a great career path and build the Island’s economy,”says Sam Sanderson of the Construction Association of PEI (CAPEI). “Our members are looking to hire up to 500 additional workers to keep up with the extraordinary demand.
“Multiple companies are looking for estimators and they can’t find them. Some companies have been looking for two years; one company has hired a head hunter in Ontario and has had no success in three months.”
Sam says construction associations across Canada are seeing similar skill shortages. CAPEI is working to attract skilled trades workers with IslandBuilder.ca, funded by SkillsPEI, a division of the Department of Education and Lifelong Learning.
“We want to let people know the industry is strong on PEI, and you can build a career and a life here,” says Sam. “The release of a career promotional video and new industry-led training programs are strategies the construction industry has embraced in response to growing labour shortages.”
The promotional video features testimonials from Islanders working in the construction sector and will air on both television and social media. The video is part of the Island Builder recruitment campaign the industry launched two years ago to respond to growing labour shortages.
In addition to promoting construction careers, the Island Builder campaign includes industry-run training programs for youth and for First Nations through a partnership with Lennox Island. In total, these programs are providing training to 50 Islanders. A construction training program for newcomers is also set to be launched in the next month.
For more information, visit www.islandbuilder.ca