New home construction may be slowing, but a report issued this week by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says 2006 will be the sixth consecutive year that housing starts will exceed 200,000. It's good news for home builders, but it also puts more strain on the tight construction labour force.

Across the country, the lack of skilled labour has been dragging down the industry for years. The problem is particularly acute in Western Canada, where home builders must compete with higher-paying, nonresidential projects in the Alberta oil sands and building for the 2010 Olympics in the Vancouver area.

The Canadian Home Builders' Association has tried to make the shortage an election issue, saying little has been done to help the industry. "Despite years of study, there is still no coherent, focused federal government support for training the highly skilled tradespeople that the residential sector requires," it says. The association says that three years ago, it proposed a plan developed in conjunction with provincial governments, community colleges and industry reps that would offer training, but so far the federal government has failed to act.

The Construction Sector Council, using government funding, recently introduced a new Careers in Construction website that is aimed to attract young people to the industry.

"It's the first site in Canada to offer coast to coast information about job prospects in every Canadian province," says Rosemary Sparks of the council, in a news release.

Designed for all types of construction, the site includes detailed descriptions of 36 careers, ranging from carpenter to heavy equipment mechanic. For each job, the site explains what the work is like, what the duties are, work conditions, training and apprenticeship programs, and the salary range.

Another section of the site tackles common myths about construction work, such as one that construction work pays poorly. "Construction workers often earn more than university graduates, and the average construction worker's annual salary is higher than the overall national average," says the site. "If you start out in the construction industry as an apprentice, you can earn while you learn and avoid the student loan debts many college and university graduates face."

It says, "Whether you're a skilled construction worker or manager, you can earn up to six figures annually."

The site also includes virtual tours of construction sites, video clips and interviews with workers on the job.

There's also an online test in which you can "test your construction I.Q." and see if you are cut out for a career in construction.

The Construction Sector Council says construction is a $130-billion industry that accounts for more than 12 per cent of Canada's economy. It says employment reached a record high of more than one million people in 2005, and that one out of every 17 Canadians makes a living from construction. "Many workers are nearing retirement so the odds are pretty good that the demand for skilled construction workers will remain high," says the site.

It also takes aim at attracting more women to the industry. It says, "The wolf whistle disappeared decades ago. Today men and women work as respected members of the same construction teams and earn the same rates."

The council is a not-for-profit, independent labour/business partnership that was established in 2001 to address the human resource needs of the industry. It says thousands of visitors, "mostly youth and educators," have already visited the site to see what the work is like and where the jobs are located.

To ease the shortage of workers, the CHBA is also calling on the government to revise its immigration policies. It says the current language and arranged employment requirements are barriers to the immigration of skilled construction trades and must be removed. It wants to resolve the issue of dealing with undocumented tradespeople working in Canada, "without recourse to deportation."

It also wants the federal government to include skilled construction trades in the list of occupations under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.