Where Are Skilled Trades Workers Supposed to Work?
Ottawa, ON – Garnett Genuis, Conservative Shadow Minister for Employment, released the following statement on the Spring Fiscal Update:
“As supporters of the trades and workers, Conservatives have long been calling for the government to bring in training programs that support young Canadians looking to enter the skilled trades. Unfortunately, the Liberals have continued to double down on their cuts to vocational training while continuing to block the jobs that apprentices and trades workers need.
“According to the latest data from Statistics Canada, there are 207,700 unemployed Canadians in trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations. With 62,000 job vacancies in positions requiring a trade certificate or diploma in the final quarter of 2025, and 127,100 unemployed Canadians with a trade certificate or diploma, that’s roughly 65,100 more unemployed workers in the skilled trades than available jobs or two unemployed trade-certified Canadians for every job vacancy requiring certification.
“That’s as those already working in the skilled trades are being let go. Build Force Canada reports that over the last year, employment in the construction sector has fallen by 19,100 workers. Even the Liberals’ own Spring Fiscal Update highlights this reality, noting that less building is ‘resulting in job losses in the skilled trades and construction.’
“This has been seen most clearly in homebuilding, where the Canadian Home Builders’ Association reports that 47 per cent of builders say they or their subcontractors have needed to lay off workers. In Ontario alone, the number rises to 65 per cent, with payroll data showing that six to seven per cent of workers in residential construction were no longer employed – a stat the province has ‘not seen since the global financial crisis in 2009.’
“Yesterday, we heard that 275 major projects are awaiting approval at the Major Projects Office, which would be able to provide meaningful, stable employment to Canadian workers across the country. Yet the Liberals continue to block building with red tape, regulations and job-killing taxes that Carney has kept in place and that lock skilled trades workers out of jobs.
“Meanwhile, the latest Spring Fiscal Update keeps in place their removal of grant funding for students studying at private, for-profit vocational institutions. These institutions provide critical training for those going into the trades, and in many cases, these are skills that are simply not offered at public or not-for-profit institutions.
“But when given an opportunity to provide youth at vocational institutions with access to the same grants as students going to university, even to pursue studies without defined market demand, the Liberals voted against it.
“It’s not the only disappointment as Liberal plans to improve labour mobility continue to remain only plans and discussions, despite removing duplicate training when moving provinces being an obvious thing to do. At best, the Liberals have said they are aiming for the concepts of a plan by 2027, an inexcusable delay.
“We need more trades workers, and we need more trades work. Youth training at vocational institutions deserve access to the training they need, and apprentices deserve the opportunity to work as part of their training, yet Liberal anti-development laws block projects that provide jobs and opportunity.
“Skilled-trades workers and apprentices need projects to go forward; it’s time the Liberals put forward solutions that secure good-paying jobs for Canadians. Conservatives will continue to fight to unleash our economy and preserve access to all forms of job training to make Canada stronger at home.”