As Windsor-Essex looks to add more homes, municipalities already face building inspector shortage

A shortage of building inspectors in Windsor-Essex in southwestern Ontario is leaving municipalities in a squeeze as they try to keep up with development.

In Windsor, the city has 15 building inspector positions, but five are vacant.

"It's a big strain," said John Revell, Windsor's chief building official. "We can't deliver the same level of service we would like to deliver right now because of the staff shortages."

Building inspectors are responsible for looking over construction work in the field — whether new builds or renovations — and ensuring building code standards are met.

CBC News reached out to municipalities in this region and learned Tecumseh is also looking to fill two building inspector positions, while LaSalle has two building inspector positions — one of which is vacant. 

LaSalle posted the vacancy a number of times without finding a qualified person to fill it.

The issue isn't unique to this region.

Paul De Berardis, of the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON), said it's being felt across the province.

The shortage is being fuelled in part by what's been called the "silver tsunami" of baby boomers retiring, he said. The shortage comes at a time when development activity has ramped up.

Municipalities are in the position of trying to lure building inspectors from other communities, De Berardis said.

"There's only so many licensed building officials out there, and if they're all just poaching from one another then you're really just filling a void and creating a void in another municipality," said De Berardis, RESCON's director of building science and innovation.

He said more people need to enter the profession because housing activity is expected to grow further.

"There definitely needs to be a shift in how we attract, educate and license building officials."

The pace of development is expected to intensify in the future due to the Ontario government's new target of building 1.5 million homes over the next decade to fix the housing shortage.

As part of that plan, Windsor was given a goal to build 13,000 homes, but shortages of building inspectors have the potential to create bottlenecks along the way to bringing housing supply online.

Windsor has responded to its building inspector shortage by asking for permission to reorganize the building department so it can train people on the building code and create new capacity from within.

Ontario's Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, which is responsible for administering the tests needed to be certified as a building inspector, told CBC News a new model is in place where municipal building departments are allowed to design and administer their own building inspector internship programs.

In its response, the ministry didn't address if the province is taking steps to help more people qualify to become inspectors or making any adjustments to the examinations.

Building inspection is a career path usually taken by people who first trained in a trade, or are engineers or architects.

That was the case for Tecumseh's chief building official, Peter Valore. He worked in construction for a few decades, but when he started to feel the physical aches and pains of the work, he was encouraged to get the qualifications to become a building inspector.

Tecumseh is casting a net far and wide in hopes of filling its two building inspector vacancies. 

Municipalities need to think outside the box to get a handle on the shortage of inspectors, Valore said, suggesting options such as availing of contract workers or retirees, and sharing building inspector resources between municipalities.

"Windsor-Essex County has been underdeveloped for many years compared to our [Greater Toronto Area] neighbours to the north, and now development is here. It's our time. It's our time to grow," he said.

"So we definitely need to come together and we need new tools in the tool box, maybe some of the unconventional opportunities that we haven't taken full advantage of in the past."

After vacancies in LaSalle weren't filled, the municipality decided to try to create what it calls a unique training opportunity.

It opened the posting to applicants who only fulfil the educational requirements for the position. 

The successful candidate would gain experience through training while completing the legislative requirements under the building code.