RESCON calls for immigration reform, enhanced trades system
The Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON) wants the provincial government to aggressively push for immigration reform and enhance the training system for voluntary trades by providing more support to employers who provide opportunities for learning.
The council sent a letter to Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development Minister Monte McNaughton outlining its position on the issues and calling on the province to continue working with employers and unions to address health and safety and labour legislation and make anti-racism and anti-discrimination training a part of health and safety requirements.
On immigration reform, RESCON wants the list of eligible professions expanded to include general labourers with experience in construction, allocate 1,000 of 9,000 seats under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) to general labourers, allow spots to be allocated on a regional basis to address labour market needs, and remove repetitive paperwork. Without the changes, many opportunities in the residential- and infrastructure-related industries will be missed.
The council explained that Canada’s immigration system has disproportionately recognized immigrants with formal education, certificates (CofQs), and language skills. Most foreign trained construction workers, especially in the voluntary trades, do not have these certifications and moreover are not required or expected by Employers to obtain a C of Q or C of A to work in the voluntary trades in Ontario.
In residential construction, the relevance and prevalence of the certificates has effectively been removed.
Without these changes, RESCON says, many opportunities in the residential and infrastructure related will be impacted or missed.
“Domestic training alone will not be enough to keep pace with the number of workers required to build 1.5 million new homes in the next decade, so more immigrants with experience in construction are needed,” says RESCON president Richard Lyall. “Additional support for employers who train voluntary trades is also required as we need workers with specialized skill sets in carpentry and other various finishing vocations that are required in residential construction.”
On voluntary trades, RESCON is suggesting that support for employers who train voluntary trades – among them, high-rise forming, low-rise residential framing, concrete and drain, tile and terrazzo and other finishing careers – be expanded as it enhances the system beyond the existing formal apprenticeship training and ensures there are equal opportunities for all types of trades.
The council would like to see increased funding to on-site employers who provide on-the-job training to specialized pre-apprenticeship programs and that specialized skills sets be recognized through the pre-apprenticeship program.
“The GTHA remains the top region for home buyers as well as a top destination for new immigrants, and the need for more density requirements and mid-rise and high-rise units will only increase,” says Lyall. “These projects cannot proceed without the voluntary trades which make up most of the 40 different residential skilled trades. They are critical to building up Ontario’s much-needed housing stock.”
The letter also emphasizes the need for specialized health and safety legislation related to construction – and in some circumstances specialized legislation for residential construction.