Meeting the growing demand for skilled construction workers in Canda requires an approach that focuses on recruiting today’s best talent while also inspiring a new generation to consider careers in the trades. 

According to the Canadian Construction Association, the construction industry employs about 1.5 million people today, but by 2028 more than 300,000 positions will need to be filled simply to replace workers retiring or leaving the workforce. 

Rod Schenk, PCL Construction’s director of labor relations for Western Canada, says the key to building a strong pipeline of skilled tradespeople is timing. “If we wait until people graduate before we talk to them about the trades, we’ve waited too long.” 

 Skills Canada works with companies like PCL to build that pipeline. Through its national organization and provincial and territorial member associations, Skills Canada encourages young people from junior high through post‑secondary and early apprenticeship to explore careers in the skilled trades and technologies. 

PCL has a multi-year sponsorship agreement with Skills Canada and Skills Alberta and participates in programming throughout the year. The company purchases tradeshow space at the Skills Canada National Competition (SCNC) and several provincial skills competitions. PCL sent judges to SCNC 2024 in Edmonton and will provide judges for upcoming provincial competitions in Ontario and at SCNC 2026 in Toronto.

At PCL’s booth, tradespeople connect with students to talk about career potential in construction and at PCL. The company has also participated in the Try‑a‑Trade booth, where students take part in hands‑on challenges like racing to see who can sink the most nails. At the Empowering Women in Trades area, tradeswomen share their career stories and answer questions from girls and young women about working in the trades.

“Skills Canada lets us connect with students when they’re still forming opinions about what they want to do,” explains Schenk, adding that PCL’s Skills Canada partnership is focused on inspiring early interest in the trades rather than recruitment. “These students are too young for that,” he says. “What we’re doing is planting the idea and helping them understand what the construction industry can offer.”

Schenk says his approach when chatting with Grade 11 and 12 students is to tap into their desire for independence. “I ask what they’re working toward to move out of their parents’ house.” If they’re not sure, Schenk pitches the idea to work in the trades. 

For young people looking to become a tradesperson, Schenk says the first step is often an entry-level role, such as a labourer, to see if the industry is the right fit for them and which trade sparks their interest. They can become a first-year apprentice while working with PCL and grow through hands-on work, a formal trades education and experience gained over time. 

A common question he gets from students is about what it takes to work in the trades. His answer is simple: “Show up and work hard. Beyond that, we’re going to train you and help you become a journeyperson.” 

 The greatest thing the construction industry offered Keeley Prockiw was a more financially secure future for her family. Prockiw, a project coordinator with PCL Industrial, joined the company in 2023 after working 13 years in the field as a welder. 

She has frequently shared her experience in the trades, be it through Skills Alberta’s Girls Exploring Trades and Technologies Gathering, held in tandem with the Skills Alberta Provincial Competition, or involvement with other industry-related organizations promoting the trades as a viable option for women.    

Prockiw was a single parent working retail jobs and raising two kids when she made a major career shift. “I got into the trades out of necessity. I needed a change, I needed financial stability and I needed a way forward,” she explains. 

Prockiw, a Red Seal journeyman B-pressure Welder and certified Level 3 rope access supervisor, began her trades journey in 2011 and says working in the trades changed her life. “The trades gave me confidence and the courage to step out of the place I was in, and that confidence I gained at work carried over to every part of my life. I’m not the same person I was 15 years ago.” 

That appreciation for the trades runs in her family. Prockiw’s 24-year-old daughter, Meghan, was set to pursue a law degree when COVID-19 hit just after her high school graduation. Meghan paused her university plans because she was more suited to in-person education than the online learning environment.  

“I suggested she take a year off and get her rope access ticket. She did, and then she went up to Fort McMurray to work as a labourer to make money to pay for school,” explains Prockiw. “Three pay checks in and she decided not to go to university. She never looked back and she’s been in the trades since she was 18.”

Meghan has worked steadily as a piping inspector across Western Canada, and her rope access credentials make her and Prockiw the only mother-daughter pair to be certified through the International Rope Access Trade Association (IRATA). In April, she took the next step in her career and joined PCL as a quality coordinator with PCL Industrial. 

“Knowing that she’s building a life that sets her up for what she wants to achieve and that she’s out there writing her own success story — as a parent, that means everything,” says Prockiw, who now shares Meghan’s story with young people to draw their attention to the trades. “One of the biggest things I talk about is financial stability. They always want to know about money,” she says. “I help them realize they can make good money and not come out of school with debt. As a tradesperson, you make money while you’re learning. You’re not spending several years in school without an income and hoping there’s a job when you graduate.”

Kaylin Howie, a carpenter apprentice, says she jumped at the chance to represent PCL in the Empowering Women in Trades booth at the 2025 SCNC in Regina. 

As a kid, Howie was fascinated with construction and enjoyed watching people flip houses on home renovation shows. Her earliest exposure to hands-on building was helping her dad at home with projects like kitchen renovations. “I knew I wanted to build something and work with my hands and that I wasn't meant to work in an office,” she says. 

Howie has been with PCL Regina for 10 years and has worked on many notable projects, including Mosaic Stadium, the Conexus Head Office and the kikaskihtânaw Centre, the new home to YWCA Regina. 

She says she likes the variety that carpentry offers and the exposure to many types of projects, such as residential, commercial buildings, civil and industrial. “Once you get your ticket, your opportunities are endless.” 

That’s the message she conveyed to young people as they roamed the SCNC exhibition floor to learn more about careers in the trades. “There’s so much room to grow,” says Howie. “You can start on the tools and work your way up to becoming a superintendent.”

She says a highlight of the event was speaking with young women and girls and showing them that a career in the skilled trades is within reach. “I let them know they’re more than capable.”

Over her decade in the trades, Howie has seen many positive changes in the construction industry. “The biggest change is visibility,” she says. “Today, it’s much more common to see women working as apprentices, forepersons, inspectors, welders, electricians, project managers, heavy equipment operators, and I could go on.” 

That visibility, she says, is thanks in part to organizations like Skills Canada. “Skills Canada reaches students before any career assumptions get locked in, and they play a huge role introducing young people to amazing, welcoming careers in the trades. That first impression matters a lot.”