Canadian Economic Update-Canadian Economic Update

Video Transcription

Video Summary

During the webinar, BuildForce Canada provided a preliminary analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on the construction industry and its investment projections for the next few years. They found that between February and April, Canada lost around 250,000 construction jobs due to the pandemic. However, in May and June, most of those jobs were recovered and the unemployment rate dropped to around 10%. Looking ahead, BuildForce Canada projects that residential construction will decrease by 7.2% and will likely take until late 2022 to recover to pre-pandemic levels. Non-residential construction is expected to go down by 7.4% this year, with a quicker rebound expected. The commercial sector will likely see a decline of around 13%. Key drivers for the industry will be major infrastructure projects and government investment. However, there are risks, including the ability of the government to fund projects and the impact of a potential second wave of the virus. BuildForce Canada plans to conduct further analysis in the coming months and release a full forecast in early 2021. They also encouraged industry members to join their labor market information committees to provide input and help ensure accurate projections.

Keywords

BuildForce Canada

COVID-19

construction industry

investment projections

construction jobs

residential construction

non-residential construction