TORONTO — Delegates at the recent Ontario Construction Secretariat conference heard back-to-back economic forecasts, with a global economic outlook from Export Development Canada followed by an Ontario-focused construction presentation delivered by OCS director of research Katherine Jacobs.
Jacobs reported BuildForce Canada expects there will be over $140 billion in major projects driving construction activity in Ontario between 2022 and 2027, with non-residential investment spiking 12 per cent over the forecast period.
Other highlights included:
- The unemployment rate in construction in Ontario was 4.7 per cent in 2021. The sector contributed 7.5 per cent of Ontario’s GDP in 2021 with Jacobs forecasting it would rise to eight per cent.
- Investment in residential and non-residential construction reached $116.9 billion in Ontario in 2021, up 13.5 per cent over 2019. Of that total, residential was 54 per cent, engineering was 23 per cent, ICI was 17 per cent and maintenance was 13 per cent.
- Last year construction employment recovered most of the jobs lost in 2020, but it remains below the 2019 peak of 540,000.
- According to BuildForce Canada’s 2022-2027 forecast, of the $140 billion to be spent across the province, there will be $60 billion in transit spending; $26 billion in utilities spending; $20 billion on health care projects; $11 billion on government buildings; $8 billion on mining projects; and $2 billion on manufacturing and distribution projects.
- Meanwhile, Ontario’s non-residential construction labour market is expected to remain tight through to 2027, driven by a long list of current and proposed projects.
- High levels of demand are projected to exist in most regional construction markets across the province, and the retirement of 25,300 workers during the period will increase the overall recruitment requirement to 50,600 workers.
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