City councillors will form a committee today to organize a design competition to revamp the plaza, which has become much busier than when it first opened in 1965.

"We are not looking at gutting the square, but there is a need to upgrade it because it serves so many new uses," Sheila Glazer, manager of strategic policy for the city's real estate division, said yesterday. The large downtown plaza, with its skating rink framed by soaring arches, draws busloads of tourists daily.

In recent years, the square has become a site for large music concerts and festivals and a summer farmers' market that attracts crowds, so there is a need for a major rethink of the space, Ms. Glazer said.

A priority will be a permanent stage to replace makeshift platforms that are regularly being built or dismantled for events.

The redesign will have to maintain the basic features of the square, which, along with City Hall, is designated as significant under the Ontario Heritage Act.

A city staff report on the rehabilitation requires that the central rink, which becomes a reflecting pool in the summer, remain. Rooms for putting on skates and public washrooms must also continue to be available.

The staff report notes that the design changes can result in savings in the cost of staging events. Along with the stage area that may be movable, permanent hookups for sound and lighting as well as a storage area for portable seating used in concerts would be required.

More space for activities is a priority.

Gardens that line the central mall might also be moved to create more space for crowds. On New Year's Eve, thousands of people trying to see spectacular fireworks launched from the roof of City Hall overflowed from the space.

Additional artworks are suggested in the report, as well as improved pedestrian access. Elevated walkways that surround the square have needed extensive repairs and lawns have ruts worn through them where visitors take shortcuts.

Councillors who will sit on the committee will be chosen today.

The $500,000 competition will be opened in early summer, with proposals due by the end of summer. A design will be selected in the fall.

"The airport alone is such a huge project it sucks people and facilities" away from other buildings, Mr. Ziegel said.

In addition to those billboard projects, the condominium craze has made Toronto the hottest condo market in North America, twice the size of its closest rival, Chicago, while Canadian homeowners are renovating their houses, drawing plasterers, bricklayers and carpenters away from suburban developers.

"It's hard to get people in the hot areas -- Toronto, Calgary and Ottawa," Mr. Morrison said.

The shortage is especially bad in Ottawa, he said, where "there are waiting lists for people [in new suburban developments] because they can't put up houses fast enough."

Those projects are already testing Canada's labour resources to the limit, the developers say.

And the situation will only get worse if Toronto wins its bid for the Olympic Summer Games in 2008.

Building the Olympic stadiums, housing and service facilities would be such a huge task that it would suck thousands of workers from other developments across the country, effectively putting them on hold until the Olympics end.

And that will affect the entire industry, from the tall downtown towers to the homeowner who needs a new kitchen or bathroom.

"It's tough to find qualified labour," agreed David Pye, who runs Brighton Construction in Woodstock, Ont.

He builds a lot of residential additions, but has little success when he advertises for skilled wood framers. "Kids show up for work, but they don't have what you need," he said. "Some of them can't even drive." The shortage of labour and equipment will have far-reaching effects throughout the Canadian economy, the experts said, driving up the cost of major projects and causing delays or cancellations.

Many homeowners are already finding it hard to find people to renovate their houses.

Some are postponing their renovations while others have to pay $25 or $30 an hour to compete with the major building projects.

The experts say it's hard to tell which major projects will be postponed. They said condominium towers would likely be the first, especially in Toronto. The more immediate problem is cost. Mr. Ziegel said construction costs have already risen 15 per cent in Toronto and could rise considerably more over the next few years. Costs are rising because construction companies have to pay higher wages to attract staff. Mr. Morrison said plumbers and sheet-metal workers now earn as much as $29 a hour, while electricians, carpenters and painters can pick up more than $26 a hour.