The units were built during a time when
the city was in need of more housing. Yet
nobody was building. It was an untapped
market and Praztek dove into it, eventually
solving the housing dilemma. Before Praz-
tek’s involvement, a new building hadn’t
been built in Timmins for 25 years.
Despite the company’s success, Beaucage
admits that in the last five years, manpow-
er has become an issue. “Reliable people
are very hard to find. There is always a day
when somebody is not there,” he said.
This problem is more profound than it ap-
pears, the result of everything from the
internet to video games and inactive life-
styles. The day-to-day experiences of a
young Canadian are usually occupied by
one screen or another, and include little
time for a soccer game and even less time
for strenuous labour. Entering the work-
force, our modern generation may be fit for
a desk job, but most will suffer terribly in a
labour-intensive industry like construction.
In Beaucage’s experience, the younger
generation carries with it a different defini-
tion of good work ethics.
“When I was young, we played outside all
day. I see kids nowadays and you don’t see
that anymore. I think that’s a big factor on
how these workers are growing up. Physi-
cal labour, they’re not exposed to any of
that,” Beaucage said.
The folks at Praztek fall into the older work-
force category, but according to a report
released by BuildForce Canada, the labour
force of the construction industry is go-
ing to be affected by retiring workers in
the next 10 years. Although none of Beau-
cage’s employees will be retiring in that
proposed period, the news is troubling
nonetheless in the long run.
“To be honest, this success doesn’t rely only on myself. I have a really good team
behind me as well.”
SEPTEMBER 2016
H
business elite canada
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