Hoteliers and hard hats unite on labour shortage

VANCOUVER—Construction and tourism industries are building an “all in the family” solution to ease labour shortage issues.

go2, the human resource association for BC’s tourism industry, and the BC Construction Association (BCCA), have formed an alliance that will see them work together to promote employment opportunities for families.

Both sectors are facing extreme labour shortages locally and are trying to attract families to move to BC from other parts of Canada and overseas to work in their industries.

“There are hundreds of jobs in BC’s tourism and construction industries that need to be filled,” said Stan Hagen, Minister of Tourism, Sport and the Arts. “Innovative solutions such as this alliance between go2 and the BCCA are going to make a real difference in addressing our current worker shortages.”

The BC Construction Association has taken an active role in recruiting skilled trades’ people overseas and across Canada. According to Manley McLachlan, president of the BC Construction Association (BCCA), one of the biggest challenges in attracting those skilled workers is the high cost of living, particularly in the Lower Mainland.

“Most workers would like to see that there are job opportunities for their spouse as well.” McLachlan says. “Also, we want the move to be permanent, so it is important to provide support and opportunity for the whole family. By partnering with go2, we can work together not just to ease our shortage issues, but to ensure a positive and successful experience for the entire immigrant family.”

For go2, it’s an opportunity to attract stable, long-term workers to tourism jobs that might otherwise go unfilled.

“Although the tourism industry offers many permanent full-time jobs and careers, there are also hundreds of jobs that are part-time and seasonal making it more difficult for us to recruit workers from outside BC for those positions,” says go2 CEO Arlene Keis. “This is why we feel this family approach is a win-win for both our industries. If families are working in suitable jobs they will put down roots here, bringing much-needed stability to our respective industries and our economy.”

Two of the province’s largest economic drivers, the construction and tourism industries have labour shortages that are a concern. With $142 billion in major projects planned leading up to 2014, the construction industry is looking at a shortage of skilled workers of 38,000 due to general demand and retirement, while the tourism sector is facing a shortage of 84,000 new skilled workers by 2015 based on industry growth projections.

The alliance has been formalized with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). In the MOU, both organizations agree to collaborate on career awareness initiatives to entice families to relocate to and within BC. They plan to do this through joint marketing programs and by working together to recruit for jobs in both sectors in all regions of the province, especially for hard-to-fill jobs, such as those that are rural or seasonal.