Industry leaders meet in Calgary to discuss ongoing supply chain disruption story

Supply chain issues solution debatable Some industry leaders say technology can be a solution to supply chain issues while others say the shortage of workers needs to be addressed.

The Calgary Supply Chain Excellence forum returned to Calgary Wednesday for the first in-person event since the start of the pandemic, gathering industry leaders to discuss possible solutions to the ongoing supply chain disruption.

Demand for goods and supplies plummeted earlier in the pandemic, yet the supply chain continues to experience backlogs and delays.

Brent Willet, interim president and CEO of Supply Chain Canada, Alberta Institute, said that technological advances may help track shipments and ensure deliveries, but added that multiple factors will improve issues.

"We're not going to be able to solve it all on technology. We're not going to be (relying) on re-skilling current individual employees. We're not going to (be able to) solve it all on immigration, but it's going to be a lot of those components that have to act together," said Willett.

He added that the use of the word "chain" is quickly becoming outdated, and favours the term "supply network" to describe the multiple factors than can play a role.

Since the onset of the global pandemic, ports have experienced weather challenges and labour disputes, and recent political unrest has caused shipping delays.

LABOUR SHORTAGE IMPACT

Willett said  Canada's current labour shortage is a major factor.

The federal government has just unveiled its plan to see more workers from overseas come to Canada.

"It's simple to me. Canada needs more people," said Immigration Minister Sean Fraser during an announcement made on Tuesday.

The plan includes increasing the number of new arrivals to 500,000 by 2025.

Last year, just over 400,000 newcomers came to Canada.

Wednesday, Calgary businesses leaders said ensuring the flow of goods and services, and people to make it happen, are critical to a functioning economy.

Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Deborah Yedlin said 63 per cent of chamber business members have reported having supply chain challenges worsen in the last quarter.

"That means you can't deliver what you want to deliver, maybe you can't deliver it at the price you'd like to deliver it. And so those challenges cause you to have to adjust your business on the fly," said Yedlin.

"To be scrambling, as opposed to having some certainty from a supply chain standpoint, is definitely causing businesses some concerns."

Yedlin said the issues span all sectors, but hit hospitality, transportation and warehousing the hardest.

She said it's important for federal immigration rules to allow a direct connection between skilled workers and available jobs, which will also help goods get where they need to go.