The Canadian Construction Association's (CCA) newest five-year forecast predicts the non-residential construction industry will continue strong growth in 2006.
Following a year of 3.9-per-cent growth in 2005, the non-residential construction sector will continue to post solid gains, with growth of 3.3 per cent expected in 2006. Transportation engineering, oil and gas projects, and electrical power engineering in particular will lead the way in 2006 for non-residential construction growth.
Construction employment in 2005 grew at a hefty 5.4 per cent, although employment growth is expected to moderate to only 0.8 per cent growth in 2006. In 2005, construction employment represented 6.2 per cent of all employment in Canada, up from 5.2 per cent in 1998.
Put another way, in 1998, construction accounted for one out of every 19 jobs in Canada - in 2005, that ratio was one out of every 16 jobs in Canada.
Provincially, Manitoba, Quebec and British Columbia will lead the country in construction growth.
Other provinces will see declines in growth, primarily due to lower residential construction numbers and a decline in manufacturing-related construction in Ontario.
An expected decline in growth in Alberta is due primarily to the massive expansion of its construction market in the earlier part of the decade, and merely reflects changes in year-over-year activity. Alberta remains at historically high levels of construction activity.
"This forecast reinforces the reality that the construction industry has been leading the country in economic and employment growth," said Michael Atkinson, president of the CCA.
Web Watch: www.ccaacc.com/factsheet/factsheet.html.
