Toronto tops RLB crane count again

OAKVILLE, ONT. — Toronto has once again lapped other North American cities in the latest Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB) Crane Index released April 10.

The Q1 count of construction cranes in the skies of 14 cities where RLB has offices indicates Toronto is way ahead of the pack with 238 cranes, almost five times more than second-place Seattle, which has 51 cranes.

Next were Los Angeles with 47; Denver, 36; Washington, D.C., 26; Calgary, 20; San Francisco, 17; Chicago, 14, Honolulu, 14 and Portland, 14; Las Vegas, 12; New York, 10; Phoenix, nine and Boston, nine.

The semi-annual RLB report found Toronto had 230 cranes in Q3 2022 and 252 in Q1 2022.

Cities seeing an increase in cranes include Denver, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle and Toronto.

Cities holding steady in their crane counts include Boston, Calgary, Portland and Washington D.C.

Cities with a decrease in cranes include Chicago and New York.

RLB also released its Quarterly Cost Report. With data current to mid-Q1 2023, the national average increase in construction costs was nearly 1.4 per cent over the previous quarter with Boston, New York, Phoenix, Portland, Seattle and San Francisco all experiencing increases over the national average.

Chicago, Denver, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. experienced gains less than the national average. 

“There’s an air of economic uncertainty lingering over 2023, especially around oil prices and unresolved bank stress. As compared to last year at this time, things look difficult, but for different reasons,” said Julian Anderson, president of RLB North America, in a statement. “On the bright side, inflation seems to be leaning in the right direction, and other challenges like workforce development are following suit.”