Whistler, like all of B.C., is poised to feel the brunt of a construction labour shortage over the next three years.
And if there aren’t enough workers to build the projects in the pipeline, some of which are highly time sensitive, then it’s likely it will be the employee housing projects that could be shunted to the backburner.
"At the end of the day one of the unfortunate outcomes may be to defer certain projects," said Mayor Ken Melamed this week. "That’s the only other thing you can do. You can’t just say ‘bring it all on and more’ if there literally aren’t enough people to complete the project."
The mayor is not suggesting employee housing projects be pushed back at this time, but the in face of the construction boom he recognizes that some projects could be given priority over others as workers are spread thin.
In his inaugural speech on Dec. 5 Melamed touched briefly on what he called "the impending labour and construction crisis."
He did not use the term lightly.
"I thought about it when I called it a crisis and I hoped I wasn’t over sensationalizing the issue but I’ve just been hearing from a number of people who are involved in the industry or various aspects of the construction industry that have major concerns about the coming years," he said.
"There’s a lack of skilled tradesmen. You combine that with the number of major construction projects that are coming down the pipe in the next few years and it adds up to potential crisis."
Estimates drawn up by local homebuilder Tim Regan, who has taken a keen interest in the situation, point to $900 million worth of work in the next three years in the resort alone. Whistler, he said, will need more than 1,200 carpenters to complete that work.
He bases his figures on the square footage of work.
Projects underway or approved include high-end residential development, employee housing and commercial space. They are: the Nita Lake Lodge, the Whistler Public Library, the First Nations Cultural Centre, Stonebridge, Kadenwood, Lakeside, Function Junction employee housing.
Projects in the pipeline waiting approval include: Rainbow, Holborn, Cressey.
And there are Olympic projects too: the athletes village, the bob/luge track, the Nordic Centre in the Callaghan Valley, the possible Paralympic arena.
There are also projects to the north and the south, such as the Wedge development and Porteau Cove. And the $600 million highway expansion. And Whistler-Blackcomb’s likely development of a $45 million gondola. And the ongoing renovations in the resort as Whistler prepares to host the world for the Olympic Games.
The sheer volume of work on paper is staggering.
Government statistics predict that 70 per cent of the estimated demand for contractors and supervisors in trades and related workers will not be able to be met between 2003 and 2015 throughout the province.
Whistler’s problem is exacerbated not only by labour shortages throughout the province and the country but also by the fact that construction workers have left town in the last three years because of a lack of work, said Regan.
Council’s delays in getting housing projects off the ground exacerbated the hemorrhage of construction workers out of the valley and with all the new expected work, Regan asks what will become of employee housing.
"… we could have built Rainbow, we could have built Cheak North, we could have built a series of these projects and kept our capacity in town," said Regan. "Instead they’ve starved the work, we’ve lost people, people haven’t been making margin for the last couple of years, me being one of them, and now all hell’s going to break loose."
He sees the potential for workers busy on employee housing projects to be pulled off and relocated to other more time-sensitive projects.
"This is the direct result of poor leadership in the past council because they could have got some of this stuff done and they just did not get it done," he said.
Whistler companies are already feeling the effects of the construction crunch.
Jim Charters, president of Whistler Construction, the company charged with building the $8.1 million Whistler Public Library, calls the situation "brutal."
Earlier this year he put out the tender package for companies to bid on the concrete work at the library. Ten companies were interested, six picked up drawings, only one submitted a bid by the closing date. It was 50 per cent over his budget.
A second company submitted a bid a few days after the closing date. It was 400 per cent over budget.
Whistler Construction was forced to improvise and pour the concrete foundation themselves.
And while his project is still under budget and on time, Charters predicts a much different scenario for others in the business.
"Everybody wants something done and there’s nobody available to do it, well the prices are going to end up moving up because of that," said Charters.
The shortage is going to push back the delivery dates for most projects he said. Things will simply take longer and ultimately are going to cost more money.
Regan has already had talks with local MLA Joan McIntyre about the labour shortage. He suggests one solution could be to bring qualified workers here from Australia or other places on a three-year work visa. They would establish set contracts and wages before issuing the visa and if those contracts were broken the workers could be sent home.
Another solution is to promote the trades to high school students.
"It really hasn’t been well promoted through the school system probably for 20 years," said Bob Deeks, president of the Whistler chapter of the Canadian Homebuilders Association.
The CHBA has offered a $500 scholarship at Whistler Secondary School for the last two years for any student going into the construction trades. This year they expanded the offer to high schools in Squamish and Pemberton. Only one person has applied for it in two years and that student was interested in auto mechanics.
Dr. Rick Erickson, superintendent of the Howe Sound School District admits the schools are a little behind in the trades initiatives but they have recognized the increasing demand in the corridor and have responded accordingly.
This September a carpentry program started up at Pemberton Secondary. Twenty-two of the school’s 300 students are enrolled and there is a waitlist of 30. The board is looking at expanding the program to Howe Sound Secondary in Squamish.
"I guess I’d say that we are a little behind in the trades initiatives and we’re catching up fast and it is a high priority for the board to offer opportunities within the corridor and as close to home as we can get them," said Erickson.
"We recognize that the jobs are here."
He said there is also the worry that students may not finish high school because workers are in such high demand.
When asked what the municipality could do to address the looming crisis, Melamed said that is something council will address at its strategic planning session in January. He also hopes to have a meeting with as many players in the construction industry as possible to try to get a handle on what’s ahead.
It would be council’s choice, he said, if they were to put projects in a pecking order to ease the demand. Half-finished construction projects do not look good for the municipality, he added.
"Obviously we can only address the ones that we have control over," said the mayor.
"There are sensitivities too because there are projects like the First Nations Cultural Centre which isn’t necessarily ours but it’s something we want to support. But if we go ahead with six projects it might compromise the completion of the Cultural Centre, then that’s going to be contradictory to our already stated priorities and goals.
"This will inform an important piece of our strategic planning session in January – if we’re going to prioritize things, the construction issue is one of those filters that projects have to be run through."
