Commentary
Economic recovery from the pandemic is going to be a convoluted path with years of ups and downs. While inflation is making it difficult for an increasing number of Canadians to pay the bills, we are also ironically in the midst of a labour shortage. As employers increase employee compensation to draw new workers, they are forced to raise prices for products and services leading to even more inflationary spikes. These labour challenges won’t be solved soon or easily.
Part of the problem we are facing is that we are playing catch-up. Many projects and initiatives that were considered non-essential in the last couple of years have been deferred. Whether in the public sector or the private sector, a lot of construction was put off as lockdowns were imposed. With backlogged capital projects being brought back online along with a suburban homebuilding boom, demand for construction labour has skyrocketed, with a 158 percent increase in job vacancies in the last quarter of 2021. Wages for those jobs increased by over 14 percent in that period as well, but it still hasn’t managed to draw in enough labour to meet demand.
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