Recruiting roofing crews in the North

The northern roofing labour market

Answer first: small local pools, plus people willing to travel in.

• Yukon. Whitehorse holds most of the territory's population and its labour pool. Communities such as Dawson, Watson Lake and Haines Junction are small, and roofing work there often means travel from Whitehorse.
• Northwest Territories. Yellowknife is the main centre, with Hay River, Inuvik and Fort Smith as smaller hubs. Many jobs require travel, sometimes by air.
• Nunavut. Communities such as Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay are remote and spread far apart, so getting crews and materials in place takes planning, and timing is everything.

Hiring local people where possible builds long-term crews and relationships in the community. Bringing people north fills the gap, but only if the message is honest from the first line.

Weather and the hiring season

Answer first: recruit in the autumn and winter for a short summer season.

Long, very cold winters leave a narrow building window. Applicants willing to work in the North usually commit early, and there is little time to replace someone who leaves mid-season. The timing:

• Autumn: confirm who is returning next season and collect contact details.
• Winter: prepare hiring pages, travel and accommodation details, and ads; recruit locally and from the south.
• Before the season: finalise crews early, with backups ready.

The hiring season calendar covers the general pattern.

Official bodies to know

Linked so you can check requirements at the source. We don't interpret them.

• Workplace safety. The Yukon Workers' Safety and Compensation Board covers Yukon; the WSCC covers both the NWT and Nunavut. Start there for safety requirements, including fall protection.
• Apprenticeship. Yukon's Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Unit, the NWT's Apprenticeship and Occupational Certification program under Education, Culture and Employment, and Nunavut's Apprenticeship, Trade and Occupations Certification office.
• Language in Nunavut. The Inuit Language Protection Act requires Inuktut in commercial advertising and signage, at least as prominently as other languages. The Languages Commissioner of Nunavut oversees compliance.

For employment standards and posting rules, check with the territorial government or an employment lawyer.

How we would recruit for northern roofing work

1. Lead with the facts: travel, accommodation, rotation, season length and the type of work. See hiring pages.
2. Recruit locally first with community-appropriate materials, including Inuktut versions in Nunavut.
3. Reach people in the south willing to travel, with honest crew video from real northern jobs.
4. Build the list early with the off-season bench.
5. Reply fast and answer every travel question in writing.

What a northern job ad must answer

Answer first: travel and living arrangements come before anything else.

An applicant considering a northern roofing season will want answers to these questions before they call:

• how they get there and back, and who arranges it
• where crews stay and what living conditions are like
• how long the rotation or season runs
• what the work involves, including materials and roof types common in the community
• what happens if weather delays travel or work
• what training and safety equipment you provide

Put the answers on a hiring page, link it from every ad, and reply to applicants within minutes. Our cost-per-hire guide explains how to tell whether the effort pays off.

Mistakes we see in northern recruiting

• Recruiting in spring for a summer season. Strong northern candidates are usually committed by then.
• Vague living arrangements. Unclear accommodation is one of the fastest routes to an early quit.
• Southern-only recruiting. Local hires build lasting crews and community relationships.
• English-only ads in Nunavut. Check the Inuktut requirements first.

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