As project completions moderate from recent highs in Prince Edward Island, worker retention may become a challenge

OTTAWA, Ontario, July 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Prince Edward Island’s construction sector saw notable growth in 2025, with the province’s residential sector benefitting from significantly elevated levels of new housing construction, and the non-residential sector experiencing strong levels of activity in engineering construction and in the construction of industrial, commercial, and institutional buildings. The outlook to 2035, however, is for growth to moderate.

BuildForce Canada today released its Construction and Maintenance Looking Forward reports for the residential and non-residential construction sectors in Prince Edward Island for the period of 2026 to 2035. Funded in part by the Government of Canada's Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program, the reports project that construction activity in both the residential and non-residential sectors will step down from the significantly elevated levels seen in 2025.

Residential construction investment entered the forecast period at a high level, supported by strong population growth and elevated demand for new housing – particularly multi‑unit buildings. As recent federal immigration policy changes reduce inflows of both permanent and non‑permanent residents, new‑housing construction activity is expected to contract into 2028 before rising again into the early-2030s.

By 2035, residential employment in the province is projected to contract by 9% compared with 2025 levels, with losses confined to employment in new housing (-26%).

“Residential construction activity in Prince Edward Island has been significantly elevated in the years leading up to, and immediately following, the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Irwin Bess, Executive Director of BuildForce Canada. “Although our forecast is calling for residential construction levels to cycle down from those peaks, they remain nonetheless above historical norms through to 2035.”

Non-residential construction activity in Prince Edward Island also entered the forecast period at elevated levels. Engineering construction activity peaked in 2025 with major utilities projects, including Enwave Energy’s Energy from Waste Renewal and electricity capacity expansion initiatives. Construction of industrial, commercial, and institutional buildings has similarly been driven by a high volume of healthcare, education, government, and commercial projects responding to rapid population growth.

As many of these projects conclude, non‑residential investment is expected to decline into the early 2030s. A modest upcycle follows as economic growth strengthens and demand for commercial, industrial, and transportation‑related infrastructure returns.

Non‑residential construction employment is projected to remain elevated into 2026 before gradually declining as utilities and institutional projects wind down. By the end of the forecast period, non‑residential employment is expected to be approximately 8% lower than 2026 levels, although still above long‑term historical norms.

Slowing demand growth is expected to cause hiring needs relating to demand growth to contract by 480 workers over the forecast period. When that figure is added to the projected retirement of 1,650 workers, or 18% of the 2025 labour force, the province’s hiring needs could reach as many as 1,170 workers. These hiring requirements may be addressed by the recruitment of an estimated 1,720 first-time new entrants under the age of 30 from the local population. This, in turn, may create a potential surplus of as many as 550 workers that could be at risk of leaving the province to pursue construction work elsewhere, or could exit the industry altogether.

(Note that discrete analyses of the residential and non-residential labour force trends are available in their respective reports.)

“Although we are seeing construction activity slow into the end of the BuildForce forecast period, context is important,” says Sam Sanderson, Executive Director, Construction Association of Prince Edward Island. “The industry is stepping down from record-high levels of activity, and even at these comparatively lower levels, investment levels remain at or above historical average levels over the decade. Our industry must maintain a steady focus on recruiting and retaining new workers to continue to meet planned demands.”

New registrations in PEI’s largest construction trades programs reached a record level in 2024, and have generally kept pace with employment growth over the past 10 years. Registration growth has been particularly strong in the carpenter, construction electrician, and refrigeration and air-conditioning mechanic programs.

Meanwhile, efforts are ongoing to enhance the recruitment of individuals from groups traditionally under-represented in the province’s construction labour force, such as women, Indigenous Peoples, and newcomers to Canada.

In 2025, there were approximately 900 women employed in Prince Edward Island’s construction industry. Of them, 48% worked on site, directly on construction projects. As a share of the 8,500 tradespeople employed in Prince Edward Island’s construction industry, women made up 5% in 2025.

The Indigenous population is the fastest-growing population in Canada and therefore presents recruitment opportunities. In 2021, Indigenous Peoples accounted for approximately 3% of Prince Edward Island’s construction labour force. That figure was more than double the share reported in 2016 and higher than the share represented in the overall provincial labour force in 2021. As the Indigenous population continues to grow, the sector must continue to work with Indigenous communities to promote career opportunities to their youth and invest in initiatives that foster long-term retention and a welcoming workplace environment where they can build fulfilling careers.

The construction industry is also committed to the recruitment of newcomers to Canada. Based on historical settlement patterns and adjusted federal immigration targets, Prince Edward Island is expected to welcome nearly 28,400 new immigrants between 2026 and 2035, making these individuals, if successfully recruited, a key and growing part of the industry’s future labour force.

BuildForce Canada is a national industry-led organization that represents all sectors of Canada’s construction industry. Its mandate is to support the labour market development needs of the construction and maintenance industry. As part of these activities, BuildForce works with key industry stakeholders, including contractors, proponents of construction, labour providers, governments, and training providers, to identify both demand and supply trends that will impact labour force capacity in the sector, and supports the career searches of job seekers wanting to work in the industry. BuildForce also leads programs and initiatives that support workforce upskilling, workforce productivity improvements, improvements to training modalities, human resource tools to support the adoption of industry best practices, as well as other value-added initiatives focused on supporting the industry’s labour force development needs. Visit www.buildforce.ca.

For further information, contact James Raiswell, Director of Communications, BuildForce Canada, at raiswell@buildforce.ca or 343-998-1674.

This report was produced with the support and input of a variety of provincial construction and maintenance industry stakeholders. For local industry reaction to this latest BuildForce Canada report, please contact:

Sam Sanderson
Executive Director
Construction Association of Prince Edward Island
902-628-5421

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