Canada’s construction sector is poised to grow through 2033: BuildForce Canada – Renew Canada
March 28, 2024
Canada’s construction sector experienced a slight contraction in 2023, as growth in the non-residential sector was offset by a moderate decline in activity in the residential sector. Despite this trend, the industry continues to perform at an elevated level, and is poised to grow through 2033, according to BuildForce Canada’s latest national forecast.
The report, 2024-2033 Construction and Maintenance Looking Foward, finds that activity in the residential and non-residential sectors will chart different courses across the short term. The country’s residential sector, which peaked in 2021 under historically low interest-rate conditions, will contract again in 2024 before experiencing an upward trend between 2025 and 2029 and then stabilize toward the end of the forecast period. The initial period of growth is driven by a rebound in the new-housing component, which is followed in the later years by strong demand for renovation activity. These trends combine to increase employment to a peak of six per cent above 2023 levels in 2028. Contractions in later years leave employment two per cent above 2023 levels by 2033.
Activity in the non-residential sector is projected to remain strong across the forecast period, given the high volume of large projects planned and underway in most regions of the country. Engineering construction demands are projected to cycle lower in the short term before rebounding in middle years, in line with the schedule of planned transit projects in Ontario and British Columbia, as well as utility projects in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and British Columbia.
