To find out what people think about the construction industry returning to activity in the context of the pandemic and better understand the impacts of the health crisis, the CCQ conducted a survey with employers and workers June 1–15. 

To read the detailed results and the methodology used for the survey, click here (in French only).

A strong restart 

The results of the survey show that the industry’s restart seems quite strong. The vast majority of employers (94%) have already returned to activity, and 64% of them believe that the volume of work will either increase or remain stable in coming months. 

Availability of workers a core concern for employers 

The survey indicates that workforce issues are still a core concern for employers. For almost of half of them, this concern ranks highest. In fact, 48% of respondents state that recruitment difficulties have gotten worse over the last year. 

Obviously, the pandemic has had repercussions for construction sites. For instance, more than a third of employers feel that their working capacity has dropped since sites started up again. When asked about the possibility of catching up on the postponements caused by the stoppage of sites, employers are divided: about as many think that they’ll be able to catch up (40%) as think the contrary (39%).

Some questions in this survey followed up on the June 2019 survey on the rarity of workers in the construction industry (in French only).