Construction costs highest in Vancouver: Report

According to a newly released international construction market survey by Turner & Townsend, Vancouver is the most expensive place to build in Canada, and the 14^th 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 27^th 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).