Canada is the world’s second-largest producer of oil. The majority of this is found in the ‘oil sands’, an area of oil deposits mostly located in Alberta. This wealth of oil has resulted in a large industry that employs tens of thousands of Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and temporary foreign workers.

To better help businesses find and retain the skilled workers they need, CAPP and the Building Trade Unions have formed an agreement by which the two organizations will promote careers in skilled trades. They will also work with government officials on ways to improve the Canadian workforce in targeted fields.

David Collyer, the president of CAPP, mentioned in a statement that in the agreement will focus on “training, apprenticeship programs” and “getting people into the work force that are currently underrepresented”, while admitting that “part of this solution is also going to be immigration”.

By 2018, it is anticipated that the construction industry will create around 180,000 jobs. At the same time, about 200,000 skilled workers will be ready to retire. Though many Canadians will enter the workforce and help to fill the labour shortage, it is still expected that almost 200,000 workers will be needed to continue efficient production in the oil sands and throughout Canada.