A Few Good Lads founder Matt Roberts is helping foreign workers navigate Canada’s construction industry. By Ian Weinfass.
Canada’s construction industry is currently bracing itself for the impact of US president Donald Trump’s tariffs – but it’s also wrestling with a skills shortage, and needs another 85,000 workers by 2033, according to industry body BuildForce Canada.
Like in many countries, the number of those closing in on retirement far outstrips the number of those entering the building trade.
But a labour and recruitment company founded by an Englishman with a love of travel is trying to bring people into the sector from around the world, connecting them with Canadian employers and trying to help them earn a decent living.
Matt Roberts, now 43, grew up in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, and trained as a carpenter. At 24, he decided he wanted to see the world.
“I had no real set plan,” he says. “I just wanted to have experiences, and I knew that with my trade you’re able to travel and go to other places.”
After travelling, Roberts moved to Canada in 2012 to visit a friend “for a few months”.
Now a Canadian citizen, he founded A Few Good Lads in 2018, after a few years working for a construction firm in Vancouver and then deciding to branch out alone.
The company has developed strong relationships with employers and industry bodies, like CIOB Americas, to help place candidates in roles.
With offices in Vancouver, Kelowna, Calgary and Toronto, Roberts sees the business as different from other agencies.
“We’ve got more connections overseas, we’re a fair employer, everybody [we recruit] has the right to work in Canada – we guarantee that to our clients,” he says.
“And the social aspect is a huge thing as well, because we understand that a lot of these people are coming here on their own: we teach them some of the history of Canada; we teach them about places to go and visit as tourists.”
Asked why he decided to call the company A Few Good Lads, Roberts says the film A Few Good Men was an inspiration. It is also a “tongue-in-cheek” reference to England, and Yorkshire, given that the word ‘lads’ is not used as often in Canada.
According to Roberts, the word does not imply masculinity, as some might think. The company website defines ‘lad’ as “a stable worker, regardless of age and gender”.
Nevertheless, he says, one in four of the people it places are women, compared with just 5% of Canada’s onsite tradespeople being women.
