On Tuesday March 28, the federal government unveiled is 2023 Budget.
The budget contained the least new funding or initiatives for the skilled trades in recent memory. This is a reflection of a deteriorating fiscal situation, as well as a sense among government officials that a tight labour market will an overheated construction sector should level off when interest rate hikes start to bite in the infrastructure space. There is a strong hesitation against doing anything that would quickly pour fuel on that fire and new funding
could only lead to further tightening and increased labour costs for construction businesses.