By Tom Parkin
November 19th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
42,000 fewer workers were employed in construction in October than two years ago.
Why does a sector hurt so damaged by bad government policy continue loyalty to the PC Party?
Ontario housing starts second-lowest
Ontario housing unit starts, per month, Jun 2022-Oct 2025
It’s now been 41 months since Ontario’s Ford PC government pledged to meet housing targets requiring a pace of 12,500 housing starts per month. Data released Tuesday by CMHC shows in October, as in the previous 40 months, the actual number of starts was nowhere close to meeting the promise.
In October, only 3,567 housing units started construction in Ontario, just 28.5 per cent of the monthly target. It was the second-worst result since the promise was made.
The collapse of residential construction under the Ford PCs, and their refusal to spur starts by tapping non-profit or co-op development, has killed construction sector jobs and business revenues. Ontario’s construction sector now employs 42,000 fewer workers than two years ago, seasonally adjusted, according to StatCan’s most recent Labour Force Survey.
Ontario construction employment down by 42,000 jobs
Ontario construction sector employment (thousands), Jun 2022-Oct 2025, seasonally adjusted.
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Makes no sense?
We have lots of land, lots of building materials (i.e. bricks & lumber), lots of labour available for hire, lots of infrastructure (transit, hospitals, schools, sewers, etc.), lots of investment capital, lots of buyers (i.e. people in need of housing), lots of construction companies, lots of equipment (cranes & bulldozers), lots of architectural plans, lots of real estate agents (to sell the home), lots of lawyers to check the contracts, lots of banks to offer the mortgages.
Theoretically, society works better with a strong population of homeowners in the community. 50 years ago, a worker at a Zellers store could earn enough to buy a modest home.
Unfortunately, the cost to carry the mortgage on an averaged price new home, is far higher than what the average Canadian earns, and can afford to pay.
Somehow – we need to be able to get back to “normal working people” who earn a “normal wage”, being able to afford to join the “home ownership club”.
I don’t think government is “stopping” the process – but at the same time, they’re not taking the lead to solve the issue either.
I see a glimmer of hope.
Maybe the citizenry believe that the country is full and that some newcomers should go home. Based on what is reported in the news recent immigrants that highly educated and skilled professionals are.
I guess whatever remains of the “middle class:” ie the tax slaves will have to look after those that choose to stay for the free stuff.
As usual, another anti-Ford rant by Tom Parkin that is so shallow in its analysis as to be laughable. The housing market is a function of the forces of supply and demand.
At present, demand for housing is sluggish at best. Why? I would argue that with Ontario’s manufacturing base and economy under significant threat from the ongoing trade-war, potential buyers lack the confidence to proceed with such a major purchase ( Parkin ignores this economics 101 lesson ). The GTA’s condo market is hyper-saturated with these boxes that are both over-priced and not the preferred housing option of most Ontarians.
And on the supply side, government intervention in the marketplace is directly responsible for pushing up the price of construction and hence the price of homes. Major culprits include municipal governments and their direct levies on construction. In addition, we have the industrial carbon price, courtesy of the federal Liberals and the federal NDP (the latter a party that has religiously supported the Liberals resulting in a party that has been rendered bankrupt, leaderless, and devoid of any positive ideology); this carbon price forces up the cost of steel, cement, and transportation–all key inputs into housing construction.
I don’t believe this is entirely the fault of the Ontario government. The Liberals have spent billions on house, dozens of photo ops and no improvement, in fact a decline. So the Liberal housing program has been a colossal failure!
I recall this paper reporting on an announcement last year with Gould and our Mayor receiving part of the Liberal Housing Accelerator money.
The issue as I see it is inflation and hence the cost of building. Meaning the cost of materials, labour, taxes, approvals, financing, fees and development charges does not allow for a profit when the unit is sold at market value.
As long as the federal government keeps running large deficits, inflationary forces will continue to drive this spiral.