By the numbers: the construction industry in Canada from 1986 to 2016

ABSTRACT

Construction is an important employer in all developed countries, which bolsters the local and global economy. The construction industry is responsible for creating structure that improve productivity and quality of life not only in Canada but also in other developed and developing countries. Although considerable research exists on important facets of the industry (including education, skills and training; precarious work; migration and labour mobility; gender, working-time and work-life balance), few studies look at how the labour force has changed over time. In this paper we model the factors that predict participation in the Canadian construction industry in 1986 and 2016, and document the changes between these two points in time. We find broad similarities between the sociodemographic characteristics of workers in 1986 and 2016, and large changes in the source regions of these workers. We also find different geographical mobility patterns between 1986 and 2016, and discuss the implications of these changes for both the industry itself, and the workers and families that derive their livelihoods from construction work.

KEYWORDS:

• construction
• demographic change
• geographical mobility
• labour supply

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. This includes a degree in medicine, dentistry, optometry, or veterinary science, a master’s degree, or a doctoral degree, although all of these degrees were very rare in the construction industry.

2. All coefficients between 1986 and 2016 were tested using a Wald-type test and found to be significantly different from one another.

3. The total number of workers over the age of 15 and construction workers was accessed for 1986 at the census subdivision (CSD) level. The CSD cartographic boundary file map was accessed and a point was assigned to each CSD within the cartographic boundary. Next, a spatial join was preformed to link the 1986 CSDs to the 2016 census divisions (CD). The vast majority were matched to a 2016 CD. The reminder were manually matched based on the 2016 CD near by the 1986 CSD. Next, the number of workers and construction workers were linked to their 1986 CSD and then aggregated up to the 2016 CD level.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s Partnership Grant Program, Grant # 895-2011-1019.

Notes on contributors

Michael Haan

Michael Haan is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Migration and Ethnic Relations at Western University. His research interests include data development, immigration, migration, and social demography.

Christopher Hewitt

Christopher Hewitt holds a Ph.D in Geography (GIS) from the University of Western Ontario with a specialisation in data analytics, human/environment interactions, cartography and GIS. His work to date has focused on applying advanced data and spatial analysis and cartographic techniques to a variety of fields including housing, demographic and population characteristics, environment and climate change and others.

Georgina Chuatico

Georgina Chuatico is a Research Partner Liaison at Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada. Her research interests include immigration, ethnicity, and social capital formation