What trades students have to say about working in construction on P.E.I.

The Construction Association of P.E.I. estimates the industry on the Island is short 1,000 workers.

A number of theories have been put forward to explain that shortage: low pay relative to other parts of the country, an aging demographic, the rigours of the job when so many opportunities to work from home are opening up, the province's low retention rate for immigrants.

One of the keys to filling those jobs and keeping them filled is making sure trades students at Holland College stay on P.E.I. after they graduate.

CBC P.E.I. got together a panel of three trades students from Holland College to hear their opinions.

Emily Elliott and Inderdeep Singh are carpentry students, and Egan McCaughey is in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning program.

Here is that conversation, edited for length.

Emily Elliott

I first got really interested this last year. I was visiting family and friends, and I was noticing across the Island that there was a real shortage of workers that they could get to do renovations on their homes. Lots of people had projects that they really desperately needed to get done, like roofs that needed to be repaired. And yeah, they just couldn't find anybody to do it for them, or if they could find a company that could potentially come see their home, they were very aware that it could take a year or two years before any real progress was made. I was really kind of interested in coming into the field and maybe helping with that.

Inderdeep Singh

I was doing a bit of a helping hand with my uncle, he does renovations and stuff in Ontario, so that's what caught my interest. I have a little painting business, like doing residential and commercial. I just wanted to have an add on just to learn how carpentry works.

Egan McCaughey

It's kind of like Inder said there. I started out work in the summer in the trades with a family friend. And my whole family kind of comes from trades as well. So I've seen a lot of benefits to working in it. Pay being a very good one, not spending a lot of time in school was a big factor for me. I didn't want to be spending too much time in school. I just kind of wanted to get to work. 

Emily Elliott

There seems to be a lot of people going into the trades right now, which is lovely. I have started to look into some options across Canada. I think in the first few years of my apprenticeship, I might kind of travel a little bit, but I think long term I'd like to work here on the Island.