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

  • Iteris reports first quarter 2014 revenue increase
    July 31, 2013
    US intelligent traffic management specialist Iteris has improved financial results for its fiscal first quarter ended 30 June 2013, with total revenues total revenues in the first quarter of fiscal 2014 increased by 4 per cent to US$17.0 million compared to US$16.3 million in the same year-ago quarter. The increase was primarily attributed to a 5 per cent increase in both roadway sensors and transportation systems revenues.
    Read More
  • Ridesharing market attracts investors in Europe and North America
    December 16, 2016
    Investors are racing to claim a stake in the potential multibillion-dollar ridesharing market. Advances in Technology that aid in the adoption of ridesharing, while governmental policy support, such as high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes and toll-fee waivers, are bolstering market evolution, says Frost and Sullivan. The North American and European ridesharing market will see strong growth, with rideshare operators rolling out new business models to target niche customer segments. And in the European marke
    Read More
  • Growth of ANPR applications for enforcement, tolling and more
    February 1, 2012
    Automatic number plate recognition continues to find new applications beyond the traditional. In coming years, we can expect the application set to grow significantly Moore's Law has seen to it that computer processing power has improved out of all comparison in the 30-plus years since the first working Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system was created by the UK's Police Scientific Development Branch. The attendant increases in systems' capabilities have resulted in ANPR being deployed globally
    Read More
  • Gothenburg’s year of congestion charging
    April 9, 2014
    A year after it went live, Colin Sowman examines the technology used for Gothenburg’s congestion charging system and the effect the scheme has had on commuters. When it comes to long-term planning, the Scandinavians take some beating.The West Swedish Agreement is a case in point. Introduced in 2009, the Agreement runs through to around 2027 and aims to create an attractive, sustainable and growing region, and over that timescale the number of journeys is expected to increase by a third. Therefore the Agreem
    Read More

Highlighted Content