Construction & Labour by the Numbers

BuildForce Canada has released their 2025-2034 Construction & Maintenance Outlooks for Canada and each province specifically. These reports highlight key trends in residential and non-residential construction, labour force demands, and what to expect over the next decade.

Some highlights from the Ontario-specific report include:

• After reaching a forecast low in 2025, investment growth is expected to return in 2026.
  Levels then rise gradually across the forecast period.
• Investment in non-residential construction is projected to reach a forecast peak in 2027 as
  new major projects are added to those currently underway
• Non-residential employment ends the decade 10% above 2024 levels with much of the gains
  concentrated in the first three years of the outlook.
• Ontario could face a total hiring requirement of 154,100 workers by 2034, with much of this
  figure driven by the expected retirement of 90,300 workers over this period.

The National outlook takes into consideration all of the stats and on goings of all provinces in the country. Employment in Canada’s construction sector exceeded 1.6 million people in 2024. The industry is one of the greatest contributors to economic output in the country, accounting for 7% of Canada’s total gross domestic product, and the employment of approximately one in every 13 working Canadians. What’s more, the industry is driven by small businesses, with approximately 62% of industry firms classified as micro businesses consisting of fewer than five employees.

Click here to review the national outlook.

NOTE TO READER: The investment trends and employment projections presented in this report were developed with industry input prior to the emergence of potential trade tensions between Canada and the United States. The forecast therefore does not take into account the possible application of tariffs on Canadian exports to and imports from the United States, nor does it account for any resulting changes in trading patterns between Canada and its other key trading partners.

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