Skip to main content

Canada’s infrastructure sector set to be one of the best performing

In their latest findings on Canada’s infrastructure sector, Business Monitor has revised down their outlook for the overall construction industry in Canada for 2013 to 2.2 per cent. This is being driven by a sharper than expected contraction in industry value creation from the residential and non-residential building segment. Despite this, they anticipate a slight pick-up in the second half of the year will ensure that subsector maintains positive growth. On the other hand, infrastructure will post another
November 20, 2013 Read time: 2 mins

In their latest findings on Canada’s infrastructure sector, Business Monitor has revised down their outlook for the overall construction industry in Canada for 2013 to 2.2 per cent. This is being driven by a sharper than expected contraction in industry value creation from the residential and non-residential building segment. Despite this, they anticipate a slight pick-up in the second half of the year will ensure that subsector maintains positive growth. On the other hand, infrastructure will post another year of solid performance, with Business Monitor’s outlook for robust growth in the subsector unchanged.

Although below trend construction industry data has prompted Business Monitor to downgrade their 2013 forecast for industry growth, they are maintaining their view that Canada will be one of the best performing developed markets over the near term. Growth will be supported by high-value infrastructure projects across the transport and energy sectors, as well as social infrastructure, industrial projects, and a housing market that whilst slowing, should remain positive.

One of the strongest sub-sectors over Business Monitor’s 10-year forecast period to 2022 will be railways, where a project pipeline worth US$36 billion will drive annual average industry value real growth of 4.4 per cent between 2013 and 2022. This growth will be driven primarily by urban rail projects, including the CAD8.2bn Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit project, the US$2.6 billion Toronto Subway Spadina line expansion, the US$2.1 billion Ottawa Light Rail project and the US$1.8 billion Edmonton Light Rail project.

There is further upside potential to Business Monitor’s forecast from freight rail projects, however, with the Cóte Nord rail project in Quebec temporarily suspended in February 2013 due to weak demand, they have seen verification for their decision to withhold these projects from their forecast. In November 2012, a railway project to transport crude from Alberta's oil sands to Alaska moved forward. The project has support from first Nations groups and is seeking financing to produce a feasibility study.

Related Content

  • December 12, 2014
    The bottom line - US surface transportation system needs major investment
    The 2015 Bottom Line Report on transportation investment needs, released by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the American Public Transportation Association, estimates that to meet current demand it will require an annual capital investment over six years by all levels of government in the amount of $120 billion in the nation’s highway and bridge network and US$43 billion in America’s public transportation infrastructure. To meet the combined surface transportation
  • August 4, 2016
    Canada’s Metrolinx opts for Bombardier rail cars
    Rail technology company Bombardier Transportation is to supply Metrolinx, the Province of Ontario's regional transportation agency for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), with an additional 125 next-generation Bombardier BiLevel commuter rail cars for service with GO Transit in Toronto. The order is valued at US$328 million and production is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2018 with final delivery expected in the first quarter of 2020. The BiLevel coach is a most popular double-deck
  • April 25, 2014
    Smart transportation market forecasts
    Research and Markets’ latest report, Smart Transportation Market - Global Advances, Forecasts and Analysis (2014 - 2019), indicates that the global smart transportation market is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 18.3 per cent from 2014 to 2019. Congestion, hyper-urbanisation and globalisation, need of sustainable solutions and emergence of cloud based services are the major drivers for this market.
  • December 2, 2013
    Transportation safety and security markets worth US$62.96 billion by 2018
    The latest report from MarketsandMarkets forecasts the global transportation safety and transportation security market to grow from US$37.80 billion in 2013 to US$62.96 billion in 2018, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.7 per cent from 2013 to 2018. North America (NA) is expected to be the biggest contributor in terms of revenue contribution, while the growing markets Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and Latin America (LA), are expected to experience increased market traction