2026 Federal Pre-Budget Consultation Submission

List of Recommendations:

Recommendation 1: Strengthen knowledge of Canada’s capacity to supply its own building materials to support municipal, provincial, and federal investment decisions, and effective policy making.

Recommendation 2: Invest in the building material industry’s workforce by funding workforce development programs, and re-design the temporary foreign worker program

Recommendation 3: Work with provincial and municipal governments to lower municipal development fees, and help fund infrastructure that supports home developments.

About Supply-Build Canada

Supply-Build Canada is an association that represents Canada’s building materials industry. We have over 1,300 member firms across Canada. Our industry supports Canada’s building sector by supplying the materials that builders and tradespeople use to build homes and infrastructure in Canada. Our industry contributes $53.1 billion to Canada’s GDP which makes it the third largest industry contributor to GDP, and supports more than 561,585 jobs (total).[1] Our members represent a wide range of businesses within the supply chain including manufacturers, distributors, buying groups, and retailers.

Supply-Build Canada offers three recommendations which highlight how the government can strengthen the building materials industry so the construction sector can build more. To do this, we recommend that the government focus on knowledge building of building material capacity and supply-chain networks in Canada, strengthening workforces through targeted development programs, and re-designing the temporary foreign worker program to fit industry specific needs.

Recommendations Explained:

Recommendation 1: Strengthen knowledge of Canada’s capacity to supply its own building materials to support municipal, provincial, and federal investment decisions, and effective policy making

The building materials industry is not often recognized during policy development that aims to encourage home and infrastructure building. However, the materials used to build are the foundation of the construction sector -without them building cannot begin. Currently, there is limited information available to federal, provincial, and municipal governments regarding Canada's capacity to manufacture and supply its own building materials to help them make informed policy decisions. As a result, government policies, such as interpretation of building codes, counter-tariffs and duties on products, and changes to foreign worker programs have made it more costly for businesses to supply building materials.

We recommend that the federal government fund and conduct a comprehensive assessment of Canada's building materials manufacturing and distribution capacity developed in partnership with industry associations and government agencies. This assessment should focus on product category, region, and supply capacity; and account for underlying pressures affecting the industry including workforce retirements, evolving trade relationships, and uneven regional production capacity. Findings from this assessment would ensure that decision-makers in every jurisdiction have access to basic information when setting housing and infrastructure targets, developing procurement policy, planning capital investments, and adopting building codes.

Recommendation 2: Invest in the building material industry’s workforce by funding workforce development programs, and re-design the temporary foreign worker program (TFWP)

Plant and mill operators, warehouse personnel, commercial drivers, and retail and lumber yard workers supply the materials that the construction sector needs to build. Supply-Build Canada estimates that the building materials workforce will lose 20% of its workers to retirement by 2028 without a hiring rate sufficient to offset it.[2] Without enough workers the industry will be unable to supply the materials needed to meet construction demand

A sufficient employment rate in the industry is not only necessary if Canada wants to increase building; but it also offers a wide range of career opportunities -many of them paying above industry standard. For example, retailers in the building materials industry have a weekly average wage 25% higher than retail trade.[3]

Two areas of focus to strengthen the building materials workforce are:

1. Funding for workforce development funding: Government funding has focused on increasing the number of tradespeople who are required in infrastructure building. For example, Budget 2025 allocated $75 million[4] over three years for union-based apprenticeship training, and $0 for the building materials industry despite providing the products that enable homes and infrastructure to be built. We recommend that the government implement a fund that supports skilled and unskilled labour for the building materials sector. This fund would allow the building materials sector to attract and train the necessary workers to make sure that the supply of building materials keeps up with building demands. Furthermore, in the long-term, enabling the industry to hire more Canadian citizens and permanent residents would allow the industry to reduce its use of the TFWP.
2. Improve the TFWP to help businesses keep trained workers: Canada must balance the pace of immigration and the ability to absorb more people into the country (i.e., ensure social programs, such as health care and housing are not impacted for Canadians) while recognizing that immigrants can help fill unwanted jobs. Despite the need to fill lower-skilled positions, which represent over one-third of all jobs in Canada, current government plans to reduce the level of temporary residents will result in a reduction of 900,000 non-permanent residents.[5] This has negatively impacted many sectors such as the building materials industry who have relied upon programs like the TFWP to fill positions that Canadians and permanent residents do not want to take.

   As the number of temporary foreign workers have been reduced businesses are allocating resources to extend work permits by adjusting job titles and descriptions, or relocate the employee to meet classification requirements. If unsuccessful the cost of not being able to secure a worker permit for an employee can negatively impact business operations as the employer risks losing a well-trained employee while the worker could lose legal working status in Canada.

   There is a need for more workers in the building materials industry, and a desire to be able to retain temporary foreign workers who are necessary for business operations. This issue is not exclusive to the building materials industry as other sectors, such as agriculture, hospitality, and construction need access to more workers through the TFWP. We recommend the government reinstate a minimum 2-year work permit validity for low-wage TFWs; implement Labour Market Impact Assessment validity to 1 year instead of 6 months; restore the workforce cap to 20%; build a clearer, points-based pathway to permanent residency that rewards Canadian work history, language proficiency, rural employment, and employer support; and expand programs targeted at specific regional and sectoral needs.[6]

Recommendation 3: Work with provincial and municipal governments to lower municipal development fees to encourage more home building.

We recognize that municipal governments require revenue sources to build infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, and water systems to allow for more housing. One source of revenue that is often used are development charges (DCs) (i.e., fees that are added to building a home). However, DCs in parts of Canada, especially in Ontario and B.C. have discouraged homebuilding. Developers indicate that high DCs is a barrier to homebuilding, and part of the reason that Canada has seen slower housing start growth. For example, in southern Ontario it is estimated that these additional costs can be 20-30% of the total value of a newly constructed single-family home.[7] This has priced out families from pre-purchasing homes, therefore, deterring developers from building.

If high DCs remain at the same level or increase layoffs will occur in the home building industry (i.e., trades and building materials jobs), residential units will not be built, municipal revenue from these costs will be reduced which will negatively impact operating budgets; and housing unaffordability will continue to rise.

We support the government ongoing efforts to address DCs and support the municipalities who choose not to implement the fees. For instance, the latest $1 billion investment[8] between the Government of Canada and Ontario for municipalities that do not charge DCs to help build more homes and support community growth. We recommend that the government extend similar funding to other municipalities across Canada by creating a funding stream through the Build Communities Strong Fund to assist municipalities in lowering their development fees. This would help the government incentivize development, and reach its housing supply targets.

A strong building materials sector helps Canada build strong

Ensuring that Canada has a strong building materials sector will create the opportunity for communities across Canada to build more homes and infrastructure. Investments to understand building material supply chains, a strengthen workforce through an updated TFWP and dedicated funding program, and reduced DCs would create an environment where homebuilders can help Canada build strong while creating jobs and boosting local economies.

Supply-Build Canada looks forward to working with the federal government to advance these priorities.

Footnotes:

1 Numbers derived from Statistics Canada, Table: 36-10-0480-01.

2 R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd. “Alberta Building Supply Sector Labour Market Information Study”, Western Lumber Retail Association, July 2023.

3 Numbers derived from Statistics Canada Table: 14-10-0204-01.

4 Department of Finance Canada, “Budget 2025 to invest in Canadian workers,” Government of Canada, 27 October 2025.

5 Rachel Battaglia. “How Canada’s new immigration targets will impact the economy.” Royal Bank of Canada, 25 October 2024. https://www.rbc.com/en/economics/canadian-analysis/featured-analysis/insights/how-canadas-new-immigration-targets-will-impact-the-economy/.

6 Canada Employment Insurance Commission, “Reimagining Immigration: The Canadian International Workforce Program: Canada’s workforce imperative and the need for a permanent, low-skilled immigration program,” August 2025.

7 Turkstra Lumber, “Tariff & Construction Fees Impact Statement”, 2025.

8 Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada, “The Government of Canada and Ontario investing $1 billion to help Non-Development Charge Municipalities build more homes,” Government of Canada, 16 August 2026.