On August 1, our Minister of Immigration said “It’s absolutely critical to address the shortage of skilled trades workers in our country, and part of the solution is helping the construction sector find and maintain the workers it needs”.
So people with expertise in carpentry, plumbing and welding are invited to apply for Canada’s new Express Entry system.
Essentially, our government wants to bring in more construction workers, fast.
We need a lot more housing units, so let’s bring in more people to build them, sounds like a plan, right?
Ironically, Statistics Canada released the latest job report on August 4.
Guess which sector saw the biggest job loss?
You bet, the construction sector lost 45,000 jobs.
Basically, we are bringing in more people to fight with the 45,000 people who just lost their jobs.
I guess Immigration Canada and Statistics Canada don’t talk to each other.
What the heck is going on?
What’s the ultimate goal of all the aggressive rate hikes by the Bank of Canada?
They want the inflation rate to come down and they want to see a weaker job market.
Well, congratulations, they achieved the goal.
The July job report came out as a surprise.
Economists had predicted a gain of 25,000 jobs.
In reality, the Canadian economy lost 6,400 jobs, with the unemployment rate up at 5.5%.
That’s just the overall number, some sectors are seeing big gains, while others are suffering from losses.
The health care sector saw the greatest gain with 25,000 new jobs.
And the construction sector saw the biggest loss.
45,000 jobs were cut.
Here’s the thing.
Constructions are driven by new projects.
But new projects are not selling well because investors don’t have the appetite to invest in a high interest rate environment.
Developers are facing major challenges.
Tough sales is one thing.
The other thing is the interest rate for construction loans, they are not paying a 5% interest, it is 10 to 12%.
So developers really have no appetite to start construction either.
When they put projects on hold, construction jobs had to be slashed.
You see, we are essentially facing a perfect storm.
We need to support an aging population.
So let’s bring in more immigrants.
They all need a place to live.
So let’s build more housing.
We didn’t plan for this before.
So let’s bring in more construction workers.
Before our immigration department could make things better, the situation already got worse.
With the construction slowdown today, we are going to face a significant housing shortage when 1.5 million immigrants arrive in a few years.
When supply fails to keep up with demand, prices go up.
Would the Bank of Canada ease the situation by stopping the rate hikes?
The interest rate decision on September 6 will be a major event to observe because it can swing the housing market one way or the other.
Just after the release of the job report, Telus also announced that they will be cutting 6,000 jobs.
Given the softening labour market, economists tend to think that the Bank of Canada will hold the interest rate in September.
What do you think?
Comment below and let me know.
Of course, the inflation report and GDP figures will be coming out soon and that can change the situation again.
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