By Cheryl Jahn

BCCA wants to hear from you

Dec 20, 2023 | 3:25 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Major projects across the north, such as the Coastal Gaslink pipeline are winding down, representing billions of dollars. But the B.C. Construction Association has pegged about $174 billion in projects in the queue.

“Yeah, there are some projects that are proposed for our area, but a lot of the projects that are proposed that are outside of the Greater Prince George area still within our region draws from our resources,” says Nicole Bryant, CEO, Northern Regional Construction Association. “So they’re looking at our contractors, our labour pool, our suppliers. So there’s still a lot of a lot of economic benefit to those projects.”

It’s part of the reason the BCCA is conducting a survey of its members across the province. The results will be used to educate governments, industry stakeholders, and the general public about the key issues and opportunities driving BC’s industry and align the focus for advocacy efforts.

“It’s really just to get a feel for where our members are at within the construction industry and what their needs are.”

Rural Healthcare

UNBC runners get active to support rural healthcare

26m ago

SHUTOUT VICTORY

Ravensbergen, Cougars blank Winterhawks to take lead in Western Conference final

4h ago

Day of Mourning

"One fatality is too many:" National Day of Mourning to call for safer work conditions

18h ago

And while there are $174 billion worth of projects in the hop in this province, the Lion’s Share to the tune of $95 billion are in the North. But there is a challenge.

“Labour. I think that that’s true for any region. But given the amount of projects that are proposed for our area and the amount of projects that were able to be completed due to a lack of people.”

With a number of projects winding down, could those workers fill the gaps?

“I think that a lot of this labour force is probably already spoken for, given that the projects, you know, are coming to an end and there’s a lot of people that are looking and recruiting from that labor pool.”

There’s one area construction associations across the nation are pursuing, but it is proving unsuccessful.

“I think we really have to focus a big, heavy focus right now is on immigration. There’s a lot of a lot of pressure being put on the federal government to change some of the labour and immigration processes to help bring or make that easier.”