2023-09-05 22:40:56
The contractors consulted estimated that the decompartmentalization of construction trades, to obtain greater versatility among workers, would allow “potential gains” of 10% in working hours. (Photo: The Canadian Press)
The construction industry in Quebec lags behind Ontario in terms of productivity. To attenuate this gap, it would be necessary to decompartmentalise trades and increase the interregional mobility of workers.
This is what the Association de la construction du Québec (ACQ) argues, in the light of a study it commissioned on productivity in the industry. The employers’ association also conducted a consultation by asking 112 entrepreneurs to assess to what extent and by what means their productivity might be increased.
In terms of the productivity of Quebec industry compared to that of Ontario, “the average gap was 7.56%, but it reached 10.4% in 2022, showing some deterioration. Given the similarity between the two economies, the geographical proximity and the taking into account of the effects of inflation, it is difficult to explain what justifies such a discrepancy,” the study states.
The entrepreneurs consulted estimated that the decompartmentalization of construction trades, to obtain greater versatility among workers, would allow “potential gains” of 10% in working hours, which would reduce by a third the gap in productivity with the labor market. ‘Ontario.
According to the Commission de la construction du Québec, in 2022, the construction industry recorded 210.2 million hours of work. The ACQ therefore postulates that 21 million hours of work might be added.
“In clear terms, it’s 25 primary schools that we might build more in Quebec,” said Guillaume Houle, spokesperson for the ACQ, in an interview.
Mr. Houle assures that he does not want to decompartmentalize at all costs and ask electricians or plumbers to do the painting. On the other hand, he would like more versatility in trades such as plasterer, painter, carpenter−joiner.
He clarifies that “the construction sector was short 11,000 workers in the first quarter of 2023”.
“We ask ourselves the question: how can we do more with less, in a context where there is a shortage of workers,” adds Mr. Houle.
Mobility between regions
Another means suggested by the ACQ to increase productivity is to remove barriers to the interregional mobility of workers.
Currently, there are rules and a limit to the number of workers a contractor can take with him when he wins a contract in a region other than his own.
“The fact is the employer can’t hire whoever they want right now. And that limits healthy competition in the regions,” says Mr. Houle.
This question of regional hiring priority had been talked regarding during the hearings of the Charbonneau Commission. This notion is sometimes the cause of friction, when unemployed construction workers in one region see a contractor from another region arrive to work on a site with his own workers.
Among the other means identified to increase productivity, we note better training for workers, as well as for supervisors and managers.
The ACQ is launching this study when the Minister of Labour, Jean Boulet, announced a reform of the construction industry for the fall. In particular, the Minister wants to facilitate the recognition of training received outside Québec and the recognition of experience acquired by workers in an industry related to the construction industry.
These issues of interregional mobility and the decompartmentalization of trades are dear to the unions in the construction industry – which bodes well for intense debates to come.
Lia Levesque, The Canadian Press
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