Canadian Construction Industry To Experience Similar Performance In 2008 As 2007

The construction industry in Canada is set to continue another year of strong growth, according to an economic forecast report released by the Canadian Construction Association (CCA) and the Construction Sector Council (CSC). The report is based on the construction outlook prepared by the CSC as part of its 2007 Labour Market Information program.

According to the forecast data, the overall construction industry in Canada will post a growth rate of 3.5 per cent by the end of 2007. For 2008, the forecast suggests the industry will grow by 3.1 per cent. However, some differences emerge between the residential and non-residential construction markets. It is expected that investment in the non-residential construction market will have grown by an impressive 7.9 per cent in 2007, whereas the residential construction market will level off compared to previous years, slowing down by 2.4 per cent compared to 2006. The same trend will be evident in 2008 – investment in the non-residential sector is expected to grow by five per cent, and by 0.3 per cent in the residential sector.

The data suggest that construction activity will begin to soften in 2009 and 2010. By 2009, the overall industry will grow by only 1.7 per cent, and that for the first time in over a decade, the industry growth will slow to 0.1 per cent in 2010. In 2009, non-residential construction will grow by 3.1 per cent, while residential construction growth flattens out to 0.4 per cent. By 2010, the non-residential construction sector will experience a year-over-year slow down of 0.5 per cent, while residential construction will remain fixed at 0.3 per cent growth.

Last year, the Construction Sector Council unveiled a new on-line forecast delivery website that enables users to customize their searches for economic and employment forecast information by province and regions. The new tool can be found at www.constructionforecasts.ca. A summary of the national forecast report can be found at www.cca-acc.com/factsheet/factsheet.html.