Economic times have been tough since governments around the world decided to overreact to COVID-19 in 2020. In shutting down parts of the economy while increasing government deficit spending, the recipe for mass inflation was created and the outcome was as expected. Supply chain shortages led to runs on consumer products while currency creation shot the prices through the roof. It will take at least another decade before we see stable economic activity again.Today Canada is suffering from a housing shortage. It wasn’t just COVID policies that led to this, though. The pandemic has just been a final economic straw in an issue that’s been building for a long time. Environmental regulations and gatekeeping local governments have been hindering housing starts as an obsessive focus on building up rather than out has stunted natural urban growth. Mass immigration has of course led to a huge increase in demand for housing as over a million people a year flow into the country.Let’s imagine Canada suddenly figures it all out and we are ready to get building. Immigration has been greatly reduced and targeted, city councils have stopped navel gazing about rezoning areas and began working on finding real ways to increase housing, and the government has somehow managed to balance the budget and get inflation under control.We would still be left with a massive housing backlog to catch up on.The next question will be, who is going to build all these homes?In 2023 in Calgary, there were 30,500 job vacancies. Nearly 7,600 of them were in construction. This trend is the same in every jurisdiction experiencing population growth.While activists and politicians ramble on about raising minimum wages and finding ways to offer relief to baristas trying to pay off student loans, they don’t speak up much on the bidding wars happening in the construction market for labour. Young people should be directed to where the work is rather than trying to create markets where they don’t exist. We don’t need more liberal arts graduates. We need tradespeople.There has been a stigma attached to the trades for decades. When I finished high school in the late 1980s, I didn’t have any idea what an apprentice was or how a person even starts in the trades. We were taught that our future was binary. Either you graduated high school and went on to pursue a degree, or you were to become a janitor. There was nothing in between. Kids who underperformed academically could be sent to a dreaded vocational school and were to be considered objects of pity or shame.The young folks who found themselves training for the trades despite the lack of guidance from the educational system usually did quite well for themselves. Instead of building up a debt of student loans, they went straight into the working world and if they got certified in a trade, they were set. Have you seen any plumbers in an unemployment line lately? Seen any electricians riding the bus to work? Heard any carpenters complaining of being underemployed?Journeymen in the trades command exceedingly high wages and good working conditions these days. There have been ups and downs in the economy, but they have typically been working and they are enjoying the benefits of hyper demand for their skills today. Can the same be said for people holding a degree in interpretive dance or philosophy? Usually, the only thing to be said to those grads is: “One large skim milk latte please.”Even if one isn’t in a formal trade, there are many well-paying construction opportunities. Heavy equipment operators, framers, drywallers and painters are all commanding high wages right now. Even entry level, unskilled construction laborers are being offered over $20 per hour to start in Calgary right now. What’s the pay scale for a person with a degree specializing in gender studies and intersectional poetry these days?There is nothing wrong with any other job for that matter. In looking at listings online, I see that the janitors I mentioned earlier can potentially draw over $20 per hour and who’s to say they don’t move on to develop a cleaning business to make much more?We allowed elitism to take over our education system. A large number of teachers are embittered liberal arts graduates who entered the field in pursuit of good pay and a pension, rather than a love of teaching. They still harbour a disdain for the world that forced them to work at Pizza Hut for years before admitting their degree in South American tribal music practices would never pay the bills while students who went into the trades were considering buying their first homes. They pass that attitude down to the students as they stigmatize non-academic career paths. Even if unconsciously.Canada’s education system failed to create the skilled people we need for today’s demands and we are all paying the price for that. It will take years before the students of today are ready to take on the labour needs of tomorrow, but there is no better time to start changing their paths than now. AI will indeed be changing or eliminating many jobs. It’s foolish to direct students into the fields vulnerable to AI replacement. It will still be a long time before a robot can unplug your toilet, wire in a new lighting system or reshingle your home.Let’s start preparing kids for career futures that will be in demand. That means dropping the long-held stigma applied to construction and trades.
Economic times have been tough since governments around the world decided to overreact to COVID-19 in 2020. In shutting down parts of the economy while increasing government deficit spending, the recipe for mass inflation was created and the outcome was as expected. Supply chain shortages led to runs on consumer products while currency creation shot the prices through the roof. It will take at least another decade before we see stable economic activity again.Today Canada is suffering from a housing shortage. It wasn’t just COVID policies that led to this, though. The pandemic has just been a final economic straw in an issue that’s been building for a long time. Environmental regulations and gatekeeping local governments have been hindering housing starts as an obsessive focus on building up rather than out has stunted natural urban growth. Mass immigration has of course led to a huge increase in demand for housing as over a million people a year flow into the country.Let’s imagine Canada suddenly figures it all out and we are ready to get building. Immigration has been greatly reduced and targeted, city councils have stopped navel gazing about rezoning areas and began working on finding real ways to increase housing, and the government has somehow managed to balance the budget and get inflation under control.We would still be left with a massive housing backlog to catch up on.The next question will be, who is going to build all these homes?In 2023 in Calgary, there were 30,500 job vacancies. Nearly 7,600 of them were in construction. This trend is the same in every jurisdiction experiencing population growth.While activists and politicians ramble on about raising minimum wages and finding ways to offer relief to baristas trying to pay off student loans, they don’t speak up much on the bidding wars happening in the construction market for labour. Young people should be directed to where the work is rather than trying to create markets where they don’t exist. We don’t need more liberal arts graduates. We need tradespeople.There has been a stigma attached to the trades for decades. When I finished high school in the late 1980s, I didn’t have any idea what an apprentice was or how a person even starts in the trades. We were taught that our future was binary. Either you graduated high school and went on to pursue a degree, or you were to become a janitor. There was nothing in between. Kids who underperformed academically could be sent to a dreaded vocational school and were to be considered objects of pity or shame.The young folks who found themselves training for the trades despite the lack of guidance from the educational system usually did quite well for themselves. Instead of building up a debt of student loans, they went straight into the working world and if they got certified in a trade, they were set. Have you seen any plumbers in an unemployment line lately? Seen any electricians riding the bus to work? Heard any carpenters complaining of being underemployed?Journeymen in the trades command exceedingly high wages and good working conditions these days. There have been ups and downs in the economy, but they have typically been working and they are enjoying the benefits of hyper demand for their skills today. Can the same be said for people holding a degree in interpretive dance or philosophy? Usually, the only thing to be said to those grads is: “One large skim milk latte please.”Even if one isn’t in a formal trade, there are many well-paying construction opportunities. Heavy equipment operators, framers, drywallers and painters are all commanding high wages right now. Even entry level, unskilled construction laborers are being offered over $20 per hour to start in Calgary right now. What’s the pay scale for a person with a degree specializing in gender studies and intersectional poetry these days?There is nothing wrong with any other job for that matter. In looking at listings online, I see that the janitors I mentioned earlier can potentially draw over $20 per hour and who’s to say they don’t move on to develop a cleaning business to make much more?We allowed elitism to take over our education system. A large number of teachers are embittered liberal arts graduates who entered the field in pursuit of good pay and a pension, rather than a love of teaching. They still harbour a disdain for the world that forced them to work at Pizza Hut for years before admitting their degree in South American tribal music practices would never pay the bills while students who went into the trades were considering buying their first homes. They pass that attitude down to the students as they stigmatize non-academic career paths. Even if unconsciously.Canada’s education system failed to create the skilled people we need for today’s demands and we are all paying the price for that. It will take years before the students of today are ready to take on the labour needs of tomorrow, but there is no better time to start changing their paths than now. AI will indeed be changing or eliminating many jobs. It’s foolish to direct students into the fields vulnerable to AI replacement. It will still be a long time before a robot can unplug your toilet, wire in a new lighting system or reshingle your home.Let’s start preparing kids for career futures that will be in demand. That means dropping the long-held stigma applied to construction and trades.
