December 17, 2013 – Major energy, resource, infrastructure and commercial projects will counterbalance reduced residential activity to deliver stable workloads and escalation in 2014, according to BTY Group’s annual Market Intelligence Report on construction costs across Canada.

Increased labour demand for skilled trades, due in part to a large number of retiring workers, will vary by region and sector, adds BTY.

“We expect fairly healthy levels of activity across Canada despite an anticipated general residential slowdown nationwide, excepting Alberta and B.C.,” said Joe Rekab, managing partner at BTY. “Large—and often remote—energy and resource projects, with renewed infrastructure spending, will also spur increased labour demand in some regions.”

In Ontario, strong mining investment in the North, renewed horizontal and vertical infrastructure spending, and sustained commercial construction in the Greater Toronto Area will keep workloads stable.

Still strong oil sands investment, flood reconstruction, record high in-migration and a commercial building boom will help sustain Alberta’s robust construction activity and drive Canada’s strongest residential growth, notes BTY.

Continuing investment in transportation and healthcare infrastructure, and multi-billion-dollar mining and energy projects will help Quebec regain momentum.

Sustained investment in resource and energy development, and continued high levels of in-migration, will see Saskatchewan keep its place as a growth leader, but with strains on labour supply.

Strong shipbuilding and commercial construction, and healthy in-migration that sustains residential activity, will keep British Columbia “humming”, says BTY, as massive LNG (liquefied natural gas) and hydro projects get underway and propel the province to solid long-term growth.

A full copy of the report can be accessed on BTY Group’s website. BTY is a provider of cost management, project monitoring and public-private partnership advisory services.