The construction industry has always been vigorous in Canada, and the same thing can still be said for the next 10 years. However, some dynamics like the areas where the vigor will be exhibited are expected to shift.
Some factors influencing this shift are population growth, workforce, and sectoral drivers like industry and service. The dynamics between these factors show that opportunities can be lurking for commercial and industrial construction industry for the next 10 years. Below are some interesting highlights of this report.
Fewer Residential Constructions due to Slow Population Growth Pace
- Despite the surge of immigrants to Canada, its population growth still remains to plateau, leaving the residential construction not as robust as it was in 2017. This previous robustness was attributed to high immigration rate and the expected change in eligibility mortgage requirements.
- With the projected trend, it is common among all provinces to have weaker near-term for new housing construction except for Alberta. Aside from slow population growth pace, new eligibility requirements in mortgage are also expected to contribute to lower residential construction in 2018-2027. While this could be true, another projection is that the decline in housing could be absorbed by rising renovation and maintenance projects.
Non-residential Construction like Commercial and Other Infrastructures
- Succeeding the many residential projects in 2017 and preceding years, commercial activities in selected provinces shall follow. This makes commercial construction as another sector that could experience stable growth based on projections. This will be brought by the country’s strong service sector.
- Meanwhile, expected transportation projects, highway and bridge construction, pipelines, liquefied natural gas facilities, and energy infrastructures are some of what will drive the industrial constructions. Just like in residential construction, maintenance projects are also expected in commercial and (especially) in industrial works.
More Workforces Needed
- More people are invited to the construction for the next 10 years because of the expected 254,000 retirees in the industry. In addition to the replenishment needed, new entrants should be trained for more updated skills to respond to the shifting demands in construction and reduced carbon emission target.
- Looking at the picture painted by the residential and non-residential (like industrial and commercial) sectors of construction, one can deduce that workforce demand and trend shall follow the same path. The residential sector could face stresses due to the generic decline in workforce brought by expected surge of retirees and, most especially, by the competition with non-residential rising labor requirement.
On the part of the seemingly more vigorous sectors like commercial and industrial construction, some challenges besides recruiting new workers could be training them, Myenvoyair. But this should be a smaller case to handle since this sector will be enjoying higher demands. With higher demands, more competent commercial construction management companies are expected to play major roles in shaping Canada’s construction industry in the next ten years.
