A national housing shortage and the expanding infrastructure needs in Canada highlight the urgent need for growing the construction workforce, which is expected to require nearly 300,000 new entrants by 2032.

The country’s polytechnics – post-secondary schools specializing in vocational training – are ideally positioned to help alleviate strains on the industry. They have proven themselves to be adaptable, agile and well-connected to industry. They deliver up-to-date, in-demand skills across sectors and to all age groups. They support applied and technology-enabled classroom and workplace learning. Best of all, they have the unique ability to pivot quickly as the economy’s ground shifts.

Today, Canada’s 13 polytechnics deliver industry-aligned education and training to more than 402,500 learners annually, including 33,700 apprentices. According to research from Prism Economics and Analysis, every dollar invested in polytechnic-applied research generates a return on investment of between $8.09 and $18.49.

We must emphasize the benefits of the trades, which offer opportunities for prosperous, long-term careers. People can acquire an education without hefty student debt and receive competitive compensation for rewarding work. The trades offer stable, gratifying opportunities for young people from across diverse backgrounds. The construction industry is a vibrant field where people from all walks of life can build a secure, fulfilling future.

Canada’s polytechnics are making investments that will allow them to scale up, build specialized programs and accommodate more students, including, for example, in Edmonton, where the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) Advanced Skills Centre and the Norquest Career Skills Centre are under development.

But meeting the demand for skilled workers requires a multi-pronged solution. Let us be united by a vision for our polytechnics that build bridges to opportunity and prosperity for all Canadians.

Full disclosure: PCL has worked with Canada’s polytechnics for decades, building facilities that have trained and educated generations of skilled tradespeople and professionals.

Many owners of these facilities have sought designs that allow for flexibility and innovation as the needs of the schools and the industries they support have changed.

These owners can benefit from a general contractor's ability to add value during pre-construction, optimizing designs to fit schedules, budgets and future adaptability needs. Value engineering exercises, which find efficiencies that meet requirements at a lower cost, ensure sustainable solutions without compromising quality or design intent.

The key is to align stakeholder inputs with project goals, ensuring decision-making remains efficient and transparent. As a construction manager with proven collaboration capabilities, PCL has demonstrated an ability to bring stakeholders together and to manage diverse user groups, balancing input from executives, faculty, students, industry leaders, governments and the local community.

PCL’s expertise in delivering complex projects ensures the development of innovative facilities that integrate sustainable technologies, flexible design approaches and forward-looking systems.

PCL has also sponsored scholarships and awards, donated to post-secondary institutions and polytechnics, hired student interns (about 1,000 annually at PCL) and supported apprenticeships, helping to ensure that a steady stream of talent flows from the country’s polytechnics.

The LEED Gold-certified, four-story Singhmar Centre for Learning at NorQuest College demonstrates the college’s commitment to providing its students with a first-class college experience while preparing them for the local workforce. The center includes 50 classrooms and teaching labs, a library, child-care center and an Indigenous student center complete with a ceremonial room.

The Trades & Technology Complex at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology is a LEED Gold-certified facility comprising three new buildings adding 69,000 square meters of instructional space to the campus. The design of the buildings reflects an innovative, flexible and integrated approach to trades and technical training.

Limberlost Place is Ontario’s first mass-timber, net-zero-carbon-emissions institutional building. It will be home to George Brown College’s schools of architectural studies and computer technology, and the Brookfield Sustainability Institute. Students will learn in and from this innovative facility. Its internationally award-winning design and construction surpasses the Toronto Green Standard for reduced carbon emissions and is changing national and provincial building codes for mass-timber buildings over six stories.

Algonquin College’s Discovery, Applied Research and Entrepreneurship District includes the College’s new library and learning centre, an Indigenous commons, a cybersecurity center and collaborative workspaces that allow students to try out the latest technology.

The BCIT Canada Way Infrastructure Renewal project replaced the electrical infrastructure at the institution. The team worked collaboratively to replace a hydro receiving station, install five high-voltage units, build pedestrian canopies, increase the amount of walking space and create rain garden landscaping beds. The project team achieved Envision Gold Certification for sustainable infrastructure. 

The Okanagan College Trades and Complex Expansion more than doubled capacity for students and apprentices, adding modernized shop space, storage and ancillary space and three 20-seat classrooms. The expansion aligned with the college’s continuing quest to achieve the best in innovation, sustainable buildings and energy-efficient trades training.