Finishing public housing project within 4 years a challenge, industry leader says

Creating 380 new public housing unitsand immediately renovating 110over the next four years might be too ambitious considering the labour and supply shortage plaguing the building industry, according to the head of the province's construction association.

John-Ryan Morrison, Construction Association of New Brunswick executive director, says the $102.2-million public housing project announced Monday is much needed, but the timeline is "aggressive," and the province has not consulted with theconstruction companies he represents.

"I was kind of surprised with some of the dollar amounts and the kind of timelines that they have," Morrison told Information Morning Fredericton.

He said a skilled labour shortageis causing "huge delays" in projects, with almost every single construction project going over budget and over time.

The cost of materials have gone up more than80 per cent in the last two years, diesel is up 300 per cent, and supply chain delays compound the problem, he said.

Morrison said it's difficult to help when there were no talks between the province and his association beforethe announcement wasalready made.

"We're the largest construction association in the province andwe weren't consulted. So it's hard to provide this advice after an announcement has been put out there."

CBC News asked the Department of Social Development about what factors were considered and whetherofficials factored in workers shortagesand the rising cost of supplies before arriving at this timeline.

In an emailed statement,spokespersonRebecca Howland said the department is aware of the challenges facing the construction industry.

"With more than 8,000 households on the waiting list for affordable housing, the department understands the urgency to get the construction underway," she said.

Howland said the province is planning to issue a formal request for proposals "as soon as possible," andplans to work with municipalities and groups like the Construction Association of New Brunswickto make sure the projects are done"in the most efficient way possible."

How does the building processwork?

For government builds, the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure would tender the work. How long the tender process takes would depend on whetherthe department hasthe specificationsand the size of the project.

"It has to be posted for 30-some days and then there's a 21-day award period," Morrisonsaid. "There's less and less New Brunswick companies willing to bid on New Brunswick work ... which also increases the cost, because the less competitive marketplace equals higher costs."

He said because of the skilled labour shortage, contractors have to be more selective of the work they're doing. And contractorswould typically choose private projects becausethere's no prompt payment legislation in New Brunswick, and the province is sometimes slower to pay. He said that legislation would force a government or private company to pay within 30 days of receiving an invoice.

"Right now you hear stories of it taking 90-120 days for payment on invoices," he said. "We can't bid on the next projectif we haven't been paid for the last one, so that causes a huge delay ingrowing the industry."

Morrison said his organization has been advocating for 10 years for this legislationand plans to keep doing so. Ontario created this legislation in 2019, and Alberta and Saskatchewan already have it.

"All I know is, you know, we've seen a lot of provincial projects not being awarded this year because the budgets approved haven't matched up with the cost of construction and the cost of inflation."

Recruiting workers is essential

Morrison said New Brunswick would be short about 10,000 construction workers in the next three to four years. And New Brunswick is not the only provincelooking for workers, so aggressive recruitment is needed.

"We have to recruit from across the country," he said. "We need to make it as attractive as we can for people from across the country to come. We need to improve the immigration policies, to help promote skilled tradesas an accepted trade to come into the country."