Workers continued to return to construction sites in June, but labour market still well off highs

The bounce-back in construction continues to outpace the recovery in the overall economy

The construction labour market continued to rebound in June, following up healthy gains in May after historic April losses.

Statistics Canada released its latest Labour Force Survey July 10, showing 83,200 more workers in construction in June compared to a month earlier. The 6.7 per cent increase in employment comes on a heels of a 6.3 per cent gain in May.

Construction’s recovery from COVID-19 continues to outpace that of the overall Canadian economy, which added more than 950,000 jobs, or 5.8 per cent, in June

Staffing levels in construction climbed to 1.33 million on the month, but the industry’s labour market remains down about 11 per cent from its peak of nearly 1.5 million this January. In April, at the height of the pandemic, more than 300,000 workers were laid off, largely due to government-mandated site shutdowns in Quebec and Ontario.

In its latest labour assessment, Statistics Canada also highlighted that the proportion of construction staff working less than half of their usual work hours and the number of people temporarily laid off fell “markedly” in June. Not adjusting for seasonality, the federal agency said construction recorded a 53.8 per cent decrease in the number of people on temporary layoff.