From the high-rise scaffolding of Toronto to the pipelines of Alberta, Canada's construction industry is building the nation's future while employing 1.5 million people, adding billions to the GDP, and navigating a pivotal era of labour shortages, safety challenges, and green transformation.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, the Canadian construction industry employed 1,482,600 people, representing 7.5% of total national employment
- Construction sector added 45,200 jobs in Q1 2023, with Ontario leading at 18,900 new positions
- Women comprised 12.3% of the construction workforce in 2021, up from 10.8% in 2016, totaling 165,400 female workers
- Construction industry GDP contribution was $102.4 billion in 2022, 5.3% of national GDP
- Total construction investment reached $155.2 billion in 2022, up 8.7% from 2021
- Residential construction spending was $89.6 billion in 2022, 57.8% of total sector value
- Housing starts totaled 245,120 units in 2022, highest since 1974
- Multi-family starts reached 143,500 units in 2022, 58.6% of total
- Single-detached starts were 101,600 units in 2022, down 2% from 2021
- Fatalities in construction totaled 106 in 2021, rate of 7.2 per 100,000 workers
- Lost-time injuries in construction: 28,400 cases in 2021, frequency rate 1.95 per 100 workers
- Falls from heights caused 42% of construction fatalities 2017-2021 average
- Construction output projected to grow 3.2% annually to 2032, reaching $210B investment
- Labour demand: 319,000 additional workers needed by 2032, shortage of 28,000 peak
- Residential starts forecast: 240,000 units average 2023-2032
Canada's construction industry is booming with strong job growth and widespread labor demand.
Economic Value Statistics
- Construction industry GDP contribution was $102.4 billion in 2022, 5.3% of national GDP
- Total construction investment reached $155.2 billion in 2022, up 8.7% from 2021
- Residential construction spending was $89.6 billion in 2022, 57.8% of total sector value
- Non-residential construction value hit $65.8 billion in 2022, growing 9.2% annually
- Engineering construction segment valued at $42.1 billion in 2022, 27% of non-residential
- Institutional construction spending was $23.7 billion in 2022, up 12.4%
- Commercial construction reached $28.9 billion in 2022, driven by retail/office
- Construction sector revenue grew 7.8% to $450.3 billion in 2021 per IBISWorld
- Heavy and civil engineering construction GDP was $28.5 billion in 2021
- Provincial construction GDP: Ontario $45.2B, Quebec $22.1B, BC $18.9B in 2022
- Construction exports valued at $12.4 billion in 2022, mainly materials/services
- Sector capital expenditures totaled $18.7 billion in 2022 for machinery/equipment
- Construction productivity grew 1.2% in 2022, lagging overall economy at 1.8%
- Value added per worker in construction was $69,200 in 2021
- Residential building construction GDP $52.3 billion in 2022
- Multi-unit residential starts valued at $34.1 billion in investment 2022
- Single-family home construction spending $45.2 billion in 2022
- Industrial construction value $12.5 billion in 2022, up 15%
- Public sector construction contracts worth $78.4 billion in 2022
- Private sector construction investment $76.8 billion in 2022
Economic Value Statistics Interpretation
While Canada's construction sector is clearly building more than just houses—contributing over a hundred billion to GDP and investing heavily in everything from hospitals to highways—its modest productivity gains suggest the industry is still figuring out how to work smarter, not just harder.
Employment Statistics
- In 2022, the Canadian construction industry employed 1,482,600 people, representing 7.5% of total national employment
- Construction sector added 45,200 jobs in Q1 2023, with Ontario leading at 18,900 new positions
- Women comprised 12.3% of the construction workforce in 2021, up from 10.8% in 2016, totaling 165,400 female workers
- Average hourly wage for construction trades in Canada was $32.47 in 2022, 25% above national average
- Indigenous workers made up 4.8% of construction employment in 2021, with 68,900 individuals
- Youth aged 15-24 accounted for 14.2% of construction jobs in 2022, numbering 210,500 workers
- Construction unemployment rate was 5.8% in December 2022, below the national rate of 5.3%
- Self-employed construction workers numbered 258,400 in 2021, 17.4% of total sector employment
- Immigrants held 27.6% of construction jobs in 2021, totaling 389,200 positions
- Carpenters represented 18.5% of construction trades workforce with 274,000 workers in 2022
- Electricians numbered 152,300 in construction sector, 10.3% of trades in 2022
- Plumbers and pipefitters totaled 98,700 workers, facing a shortage of 12,500 in 2023
- Labourers in construction reached 312,400 in 2022, 21.1% of total employment
- Supervisors in construction/manufacturing numbered 89,200 in 2021
- Apprentices in construction trades increased by 15.4% to 112,600 in 2022
- Older workers (55+) comprised 24.7% of construction workforce in 2021, 346,800 individuals
- Construction employment in Quebec was 295,400 in 2022, 20% of national total
- British Columbia construction jobs hit 240,100 in 2022, up 4.2% year-over-year
- Alberta saw 198,500 construction workers in 2022 despite oil slowdown
- Ontario construction employment peaked at 562,300 in Q4 2022
Employment Statistics Interpretation
While the Canadian construction industry continues to build the nation with strong, diverse, and well-compensated hands, the stats reveal we’re still laying a foundation of inclusion that needs much more concrete progress.
Future Projections and Trends
- Construction output projected to grow 3.2% annually to 2032, reaching $210B investment
- Labour demand: 319,000 additional workers needed by 2032, shortage of 28,000 peak
- Residential starts forecast: 240,000 units average 2023-2032
- Non-residential growth 2.8% per year to 2032, institutional leading at 3.5%
- Infrastructure spending to hit $180B annually by 2028 under Investing in Canada Plan
- Net-zero buildings: 20% of new construction by 2030 target
- Prefab/modular construction to reach 15% market share by 2030, from 5% now
- Digital tech adoption: BIM use to 75% of projects by 2025
- Labour productivity growth forecast 1.5% annually 2023-2030
- EV charging infrastructure: 50,000 stations by 2029 construction boom
- Housing supply gap: 3.5M units needed by 2030, driving construction
- Industrial warehouse demand: 500M sq ft new space 2023-2032
- Data centre construction: 2 GW capacity additions by 2027
- Transit projects: 50 major initiatives to 2030, $100B value
- Retrofitting existing buildings: $50B market by 2030 for energy efficiency
- Skilled trades shortage peaks at 60,000 in 2028, easing to 10,000 by 2032
- Green construction materials use to 40% by 2030
- Automation/robotics in construction: 25% productivity boost by 2030
- Urbanization drives 70% construction growth in CMAs by 2032
- Climate-resilient infrastructure investments: $15B annually post-2025
Future Projections and Trends Interpretation
The industry’s blueprint for the future reveals an ambitious, almost paradoxical, sprint to build a greener, smarter Canada while simultaneously trying to find enough hands to hold the hammers and hoping the robots arrive before the entire plan falls into a supply-and-demand shaped hole.
Safety and Health Statistics
- Fatalities in construction totaled 106 in 2021, rate of 7.2 per 100,000 workers
- Lost-time injuries in construction: 28,400 cases in 2021, frequency rate 1.95 per 100 workers
- Falls from heights caused 42% of construction fatalities 2017-2021 average
- Struck by object incidents: 22% of lost-time claims in Ontario construction 2022
- Musculoskeletal disorders accounted for 35% of construction injury claims in 2021
- Heat-related illnesses in construction rose 18% in 2022 summer, 1,200 cases reported
- Safety training completion rate: 87% of workers certified in 2022 per CCA survey
- Construction firms with safety programs: 92% in 2021, up from 85% in 2016
- Quebec construction injury rate 1.8 per 100 workers in 2022, lowest provincially
- BC construction lost-time rate 1.2 per 200,000 hours worked in 2022
- Alberta construction fatalities 18 in 2022, down 25% from 2021
- Ontario WSIB claims: 42,500 in construction 2022, cost $450M
- PPE non-compliance led to 15% of citations in federal construction inspections 2022
- Crane-related incidents: 45 reported in 2022, 8 fatal
- Mental health claims in construction up 22% to 3,200 in 2022
- COVID-19 absences in construction: 5.2% workforce average in 2022
- Silica exposure violations: 320 in construction inspections 2022
- Trench collapse fatalities: 5 in 2021-2022, prompting new regs
- Hearing loss claims: 1,800 in construction 2021, rate 12 per 10,000
- Highway work zone crashes involving construction: 2,450 in 2022, 45 fatal
Safety and Health Statistics Interpretation
While our hard hats are now firmly on and safety programs nearly universal, the sobering reality is that we're still losing over a hundred colleagues a year to largely preventable tragedies like falls and struck-by incidents, even as new threats like heat stress and mental health crises rise through the scaffolding.
Sector-Specific Statistics
- Housing starts totaled 245,120 units in 2022, highest since 1974
- Multi-family starts reached 143,500 units in 2022, 58.6% of total
- Single-detached starts were 101,600 units in 2022, down 2% from 2021
- Toronto CMA saw 68,300 housing starts in 2022, 28% of national total
- Vancouver residential construction 32,100 units started in 2022
- Montreal had 24,800 starts in 2022, focused on rentals
- Non-residential building permits issued for $28.5 billion in 2022
- Institutional sector permits $12.3 billion in 2022, up 22%
- Commercial permits totaled $15.2 billion in 2022, led by offices/warehouses
- Industrial building construction under construction value $18.9 billion mid-2022
- Highway and street construction contracts 45% of engineering work in 2022
- Oil and gas pipeline construction valued at $4.2 billion in 2022
- Renewable energy projects: 15 GW under construction in 2023
- Bridge construction: 1,200 projects active in 2022, total value $3.8B
- Water supply/sewage projects: 850 initiatives worth $5.6B in 2022
- Calgary commercial floor space under construction 12.5M sq ft in 2022
- Edmonton industrial space completions 4.2M sq ft in 2022
- Ottawa institutional projects 2.8M sq ft started in 2022
Sector-Specific Statistics Interpretation
Canada’s construction industry is building everything from a record number of new homes to power our future and pave our commutes, proving the national hobby is no longer hockey but rather a frenzied, multi-billion dollar game of SimCity.
Sources & References
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