Canada is betting big on nation-building projects, from housing and infrastructure to mining and energy. These are major projects and public investments that would help jump start Canada’s lagging productivity. Each project depends on the same thing: a skilled workforce ready to build Canada’s future. 

Turning these plans into reality will take massive capital investment and time for construction, creating unprecedented demand for skilled tradespeople. A recent report from the Centre for Civic Governance estimates that meeting Canada’s 2050 net-zero commitments alone will require 6.3 to 9.5 million additional job-years of construction work — the equivalent of 235,000 to 350,000 new jobs per year for the next quarter-century. Another 60,000 to 90,000 workers will be needed for operations and maintenance longer-term. The scale of this opportunity is enormous, but so are the risks if we fail to prepare. 

Canada has seen what happens when industries shift without a plan for workers. When the cod fishery collapsed in the 1990s, entire communities across Atlantic Canada were left........

© National Observer