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Canada Can Approve All the Homes It Wants. Who Will Build Them?
In 2025, builders across Canada started 259,028 homes, according to CMHC. That sounds like a lot until you set it beside CMHC's newer estimate that the country may need up to 4.69 million new homes by 2036. The same agency has also warned that construction could slow. The gap between those two numbers is where most of the housing debate now lives.
The common view is that approvals are the main thing in the way. Zoning is too strict. Permits take too long. Development charges add cost to every unit. Fix the rules, and builders will fill the space.
That view is right more often than critics admit. Slow approvals do kill projects. Restrictive zoning does keep townhouses and small apartment buildings off land that could hold them. Governments in Ontario and in Ottawa have spent the last few years cutting red tape, and they deserve credit for it.
Where the approval argument runs out
A permit is permission. It is not a crew. Every approved home still needs framers, electricians, plumbers, roofers and HVAC technicians (the people who install heating, cooling and ventilation). Approving homes faster only speeds things up if those people are free to show up.
Right now, many of them are not. BuildForce Canada, which tracks the construction workforce, projects the industry must recruit hundreds of thousands of new workers over the next several years. It needs that many just to replace retirements and keep pace with demand. Statistics Canada data shows a large share of construction workers are 55 or older. This is physical work, so people often leave it earlier than they would leave an office job. When a master electrician retires, decades of judgment leave with them.
The work is also getting harder. Newer building code updates push toward net-zero readiness, meaning homes built to use far less energy. That brings heat pumps, tighter building envelopes and more complex electrical systems. A tradesperson today needs more technical training than a generation ago, not less.
Why "train more people" is only half the answer
The usual fix is to train more apprentices. That holds, but it is not enough on its own. In Manitoba, Apprenticeship Manitoba oversees certification for more than 55 designated trades. RRC Polytech in Winnipeg is the main training hub, and waitlists for popular programs such as electrical and plumbing can run for months. Adding seats helps, but only if three other problems get addressed:
Retention. Many small contractors cannot offer steady year-round work or benefits. New workers get trained and then leave the trade.
Credentials. Skilled immigrants often find their foreign qualifications are not recognized by provincial regulators. They end up underemployed while job sites sit short-staffed.
Untapped workers. Women still make up only a small single-digit share of skilled tradespeople in Canada.
Productivity is part of it too. Factory-built and modular homes move some of the work indoors. That work runs year-round and needs different skills, which makes each worker go further. Robots and software can help with design and logistics, but they still cannot rewire an older house.
What this means if you own property or invest
If you are planning a renovation, a rental build or a cottage addition, the labour shortage helps explain why quotes keep rising and timelines keep slipping. Plan for that. Build some extra time into your budget, and be wary of any contractor who promises an unusually fast start.
There are opportunities here too, as long as you approach them carefully. Many established plumbing and electrical firms are run by owners close to retirement who have no plan for who takes over. That can make them reasonable acquisition targets for the right buyer with proper advice. Manitoba employers who take on apprentices may also qualify for the provincial Paid Work Experience Tax Credit. For people who give to charity, funding trades scholarships puts money directly into the part of the system that is short.
Approvals still matter. They are just one gate among several. When you hear a promise about how many homes will be built, the better question is who is going to build them, and whether those workers will still be around in five years.
In 2025, builders across Canada started 259,028 homes, according to CMHC. That sounds like a lot until you set it beside CMHC's newer estimate that the country may need up to 4.69 million new homes by 2036. The same agency has also warned that construction could slow. The gap between those two numbers is where most of the housing debate now lives.
The common view is that approvals are the main thing in the way. Zoning is too strict. Permits take too long. Development charges add cost to every unit. Fix the rules, and builders will fill the space.
That view is right more often than critics admit. Slow approvals do kill projects. Restrictive zoning does keep townhouses and small apartment buildings off land that could hold them. Governments in Ontario and in Ottawa have spent the last few years cutting red tape, and they deserve credit for it.
Where the approval argument runs out
A permit is permission. It is not a crew. Every approved home still needs framers, electricians, plumbers, roofers and HVAC technicians (the people who install heating, cooling and ventilation). Approving homes faster only speeds things up if those people are free to show up.
Right now, many of them are not. BuildForce Canada, which tracks the construction workforce, projects the industry must recruit hundreds of thousands of new workers over the next several years. It needs that many just to replace retirements and keep pace with demand. Statistics Canada data shows a large share of construction workers are 55 or older. This is physical work, so people often leave it earlier than they would leave an office job. When a master electrician retires, decades of judgment leave with them.
The work is also getting harder. Newer building code updates push toward net-zero readiness, meaning homes built to use far less energy. That brings heat pumps, tighter building envelopes and more complex electrical systems. A tradesperson today needs more technical training than a generation ago, not less.
Why "train more people" is only half the answer
The usual fix is to train more apprentices. That holds, but it is not enough on its own. In Manitoba, Apprenticeship Manitoba oversees certification for more than 55 designated trades. RRC Polytech in Winnipeg is the main training hub, and waitlists for popular programs such as electrical and plumbing can run for months. Adding seats helps, but only if three other problems get addressed:
Productivity is part of it too. Factory-built and modular homes move some of the work indoors. That work runs year-round and needs different skills, which makes each worker go further. Robots and software can help with design and logistics, but they still cannot rewire an older house.
What this means if you own property or invest
If you are planning a renovation, a rental build or a cottage addition, the labour shortage helps explain why quotes keep rising and timelines keep slipping. Plan for that. Build some extra time into your budget, and be wary of any contractor who promises an unusually fast start.
There are opportunities here too, as long as you approach them carefully. Many established plumbing and electrical firms are run by owners close to retirement who have no plan for who takes over. That can make them reasonable acquisition targets for the right buyer with proper advice. Manitoba employers who take on apprentices may also qualify for the provincial Paid Work Experience Tax Credit. For people who give to charity, funding trades scholarships puts money directly into the part of the system that is short.
Approvals still matter. They are just one gate among several. When you hear a promise about how many homes will be built, the better question is who is going to build them, and whether those workers will still be around in five years.
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