Ep.20 - The 2029 Collision

Buildforce Canada projects 2029 as the peak year for non-residential construction investment — the busiest building stretch in a generation. It arrives in the middle of a retirement wave that removes 139,000 experienced workers, about 20% of the non-residential workforce, by 2035. In this solo episode, Angelo Suntres argues the real crisis isn’t recruiting — it’s retention and knowledge transfer — and lays out four concrete moves leaders can make between now and 2029 to protect both their people and the judgment those people carry.

Key topics covered

• The 2029 collision: peak construction demand meets peak retirement

• The national math — 188,700 workers needed vs. 158,300 expected under 30, and the 30,400-worker gap

• The U.S. parallel: ~349,000 net new workers needed in 2026, mostly to replace retirements

• Why a retirement is a loss of judgment, not just head count

• The Ontario paradox: record apprenticeship intake, projected surplus, and workers still leaving the sector

• Retention as culture measured in exits — and the diversity gaps hiding inside recruitment

• Four leadership moves: map your cliff by name, put retention on the P&L, build the transfer system before the exit interview, and brace for the upside

About the host

Angelo Suntres, P.Eng., is a 20-year mechanical construction leader and two-time Wiley-published author (The Human Side of Construction, Rebuild Construction). He hosts The Human Side of Construction, a podcast about the people side of building — retention, leadership, mental health, and the culture decisions that separate companies that thrive from ones that merely survive.