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

  • Traffic congestion rise in Europe a ‘sign of economic recovery’
    March 4, 2014
    A new report from leading traffic information and driver services provider Inrix shows traffic congestion in Europe rose in 2013 for the first time in two years. According to the 2013 annual Inrix Traffic Scorecard, traffic congestion across Europe increased approximately six per cent in the last three quarters of the year. The amount of time British drivers spent in traffic throughout the year has risen slightly, from 29 hours in 2012 to 30 hours in 2013. This puts the UK in sixth place in Europe, behi
    Read More
  • Kenya plans road toll tenders
    March 25, 2015
    Kenya plans to start tendering in May for toll-road contracts estimated by the government to be worth $2 billion to improve the efficiency of the East African nation’s biggest commercial routes, according to Bloomberg. The contracts will be in addition to the 45 deals worth about US$3.2 billion that the government will start awarding as early as next week, to double the nation’s paved-road network through an annuity program. The government is planning to introduce five toll projects covering about 800 kilom
    Read More
  • New riders get onboard the metabustrip
    October 5, 2016
    Bus travel booking is moving into the digital age as David Crawford discovers. A global surge in demand for intercity bus travel is fuelling new initiatives to make it easier for passengers to access information and book via the web by, fo example, using multi-sourced metasearch engines
    Read More
  • Iteris to expand its iPerform data and analytics software solutions
    March 12, 2013
    Intelligent traffic management information solutions provider Iteris is expanding its iPerform traffic and weather-related data and analytics software offering. iPerform was established in 2011 and provides a new generation of intelligent traffic and weather-related information solutions. These solutions bring the power of big data to the prediction of traffic conditions and the delivery of actionable information to both the public and commercial marketplace. The segment’s initial product, IterisPeMS, is a
    Read More

Highlighted Content