Piling Canada

Mega-Projects Mean Bigger Labour Demand

Major energy, resource, infrastructure and commercial projects will counterbalance reduced residential activity to deliver stable workloads and escalation in 2014, according to BTY Group's annual Market Intelligence Report on construction costs across Canada.
Written by Piling Canada
May 2015

Major energy, resource, infrastructure and commercial projects will counterbalance reduced residential activity to deliver stable workloads and escalation in 2014, according to BTY Group's annual Market Intelligence Report on construction costs across Canada. Increased labour demand for skilled trades, due in part to a large number of retiring workers, will vary by region and sector. “We expect fairly healthy levels of activity across Canada despite an anticipated general residential slowdown nation- wide, except [for] Alberta and British Columbia,” said Joe Rekab, managing partner at BTY Group. “Large - and often remote - energy and resource projects, with renewed infra- structure spending, will also spur increased labour demand in some regions.” In Ontario, strong mining investment in the north, renewed horizontal and vertical infrastructure spending and sustained commercial construction in the GTA will keep workloads stable. Still-strong oil sands investment, flood reconstruction, record high in-migration and a commercial building boom will help sustain Alberta's robust construction activity and drive Canada's strongest residential growth. Continuing investment in transportation and healthcare infrastructure and multibillion-dollar mining and energy projects will help Quebec regain momentum. Sustained investment in resource and energy development and continued high levels of in-migration will see Saskatchewan keep its place as a growth leader - with strains on labour supply. Strong shipbuilding and commercial construction, and healthy in-migration that sustains residential activity, will keep B.C. humming as massive LNG and hydro projects get underway and propel the province to solid long-term growth. BTY Group has been publishing its annual industry review of construction cost forecasts across Canada since 2003. Over the years, the Market Intelligence Report has earned a reputation in the development, property and finance communities for crucial insight on factors behind the changing marketplace and reliable unit rate cost projections for the coming year. A full copy of the report can be accessed on BTY Group's website at www.bty.com.

Major energy, resource, infrastructure and commercial projects will counterbalance reduced residential activity to deliver stable workloads and escalation in 2014, according to BTY Group’s annual Market Intelligence Report on construction costs across Canada.

Increased labour demand for skilled trades, due in part to a large number of retiring workers, will vary by region and sector.

“We expect fairly healthy levels of activity across Canada despite an anticipated general residential slowdown nation- wide, except [for] Alberta and British Columbia,” said Joe Rekab, managing partner at BTY Group. “Large – and often remote – energy and resource projects, with renewed infra- structure spending, will also spur increased labour demand in some regions.”

In Ontario, strong mining investment in the north, renewed horizontal and vertical infrastructure spending and sustained commercial construction in the GTA will keep workloads stable.

Still-strong oil sands investment, flood reconstruction, record high in-migration and a commercial building boom will help sustain Alberta’s robust construction activity and drive Canada’s strongest residential growth.

Continuing investment in transportation and healthcare infrastructure and multibillion-dollar mining and energy projects will help Quebec regain momentum.

Sustained investment in resource and energy development and continued high levels of in-migration will see Saskatchewan keep its place as a growth leader – with strains on labour supply.

Strong shipbuilding and commercial construction, and healthy in-migration that sustains residential activity, will keep B.C. humming as massive LNG and hydro projects get underway and propel the province to solid long-term growth.

BTY Group has been publishing its annual industry review of construction cost forecasts across Canada since 2003. Over the years, the Market Intelligence Report has earned a reputation in the development, property and finance communities for crucial insight on factors behind the changing marketplace and reliable unit rate cost projections for the coming year.

A full copy of the report can be accessed on BTY Group’s website at www.bty.com. 🍁


Category: Industry News

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