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According to a newly released international construction market survey by Turner & Townsend, Vancouver is the most expensive place to build in Canada, and the 14th priciest location globally, with an average construction cost of US$2,720.8 per m2.
The report, which looks at global construction sector costs, the economic outlook, and market challenges (i.e. ripple effect of the ongoing global trade wards), has also identified the following:
- all four Canadian cities surveyed this year (Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton, and Ottawa), are classified as ‘hot’ construction markets;
- Toronto was ranked the 27th most expensive place to build globally;
- Toronto, Vancouver, and Ottawa are all experiencing a shortage of trade labour while Edmonton is one of only five markets worldwide to be in surplus;
- Vancouver also has the highest labour costs of the Canadian markets, as a squeezed supply of skilled labour pushed costs to $US49.40 per hour; and
- Vancouver is showing a very high impact of steel tariffs while Toronto, Edmonton, and Ottawa are all showing a high impact (i.e. in Toronto, steel prices for structural beams have increased 20 per cent per tonne since 2018).
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