“In some areas it is extremely desperate,” he said. The construction industry is also beginning to feel pressures from an increasingly tight labour market, according to Mark Cooper, president and CEO of the Saskatchewan Construction Association. Supply chain worries had been front of mind as the cost of building materials rocketed up early this year. But now Cooper is hearing fairly consistent concerns about labour. It’s not yet a “serious problem,” but it is leading to vacant positions and more cancelled jobs. Jeremy Harrison, Saskatchewan’s minister of trade and export development, said on Tuesday that the provincial government will soon announce initiatives worth more than $10 million to help integrate underrepresented groups into the labour market.