Coastal Communities Social Procurement Initiative: Improving the social impact of construction By Rory Kulmala, VICA CEO
D
riving value in today’s busy market has been at the forefront of our national economy for many years. The construction industry contributes approximately seven per cent to our national GDP and almost nine per cent in British Columbia. Each year, governments and public agencies of all types, combined, spend hundreds of billions of dollars on construction. With all this investment in construction, there is a drive to leverage these investments to create social impact 82 Vancouver Island Construction Association 2019
within a local economy and community through the existing purchasing channels of construction services. As with many regions, societal issues such as poverty reduction, labour availability, housing and social marginalization are driving public agencies to find more creative and innovative ways to address these needs. Today’s exceptionally busy construction market is being done so in an era with record-low unemployment and a high level of skilled labour demand. For the
most part, anyone who wants to work in the construction industry is or could be. Still, trying to find quality labourers, if any at all, is proving to be a challenge. There is less provincial and national migration of talent and there a fewer new entrants into the trades. This is creating ample drivers to develop initiatives to increase apprenticeship numbers, promote women and Indigenous people in the industry and make construction more accessible to individuals with disabilities.
