Canadian construction activity strong through third quarter
By Daryl Delano -- Industrial Distribution, 1/1/1999
Although it's cooled a bit from its white hot pace of the first six months of this year, the Canadian construction market continues to post solid gains from the disappointing 1997 pace. According to statistics gathered by CanaData, the construction data and forecasting arm of Construction Market Data Canada, Inc., the dollar volume of total construction starts through the first three quarters of 1998 was 53% above the previous year's 9-month volume.Residential starts in the country are running 20% ahead of the 1997 dollar-volume pace through the first nine months of this year. This is up from the pace set through the first half of the year; the growth pace in nonresidential and nonbuilding markets, in contrast, has slowed during the past three months.
In square footage terms, the residential sector during the first three quarters of 1998 was about 17% better than January-September 1997. Over 107.5 million square feet of new residential space with an estimated value of about $7.33 billion was started during the first nine months of this year throughout Canada.
Starts in the broadly-defined Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional sector have increased by almost two-thirds, in dollar value, between last year's first nine months and the first three quarters of 1998. Dollar-valued CII starts were up 64% from the January-September 1997 total, while growth on a square footage basis was estimated at 34%.
Industrial starts were up by the greatest amount, in dollar terms, within the CII group. Industrial projects soared by 215% in dollar terms during the first nine months of 1998, compared to the same period of 1997, while square footage of industrial space started was ahead a more modest 46%.
Engineering (non-building) construction starts, recorded only in dollar terms, were up 80% in the first nine months of 1998 versus the previous year. Among the various engineering sector categories there were only a few "losers" so far this year: sewage treatment plants, dams and gas plants.
By far the largest increase over the year has been in the oil/gas pipeline sector where more than $3.2 billion worth of work -- 38% of the engineering group total -- has been started so far this year.
For the first three quarters of this year, all regions of Canada except British Columbia (-11%) registered construction dollar volume increases over the same period of 1997. The sharpest increase was recorded in the Atlantic Provinces (+292%), owing largely to the huge Sable Offshore Energy Project. A massive Alcan aluminum project was largely responsible for Quebec's strong 90% over-the-year gain. Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan have also seen construction work expand this year.
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