Labour Shortage in Construction Among Obstacles Facing Ottawa’s Housing Plan: Report

A new report by Desjardins warns Ottawa’s efforts to kickstart new housing supply likely won’t be enough to meet “optimistic” targets due to regulatory hurdles and constraints on labour, materials and financing. The report, released Tuesday by economists Marc Desormeaux, Kari Norman and Randall Bartlett, highlighted the ongoing labour shortage in the construction industry as the “primary constraint” holding back new housing starts. The federal government laid out its Canada Housing Plan earlier this year vowing to unlock 3.87 million new homes by 2031 through measures such as new tax incentives and efforts to build more housing on public lands. The report noted 1.87 million of those homes were expected to be built anyway by 2031....