Industrial building construction starts grew 20%

CanaData’s figures on construction start activity in Canada for 2004 indicate mixed results. Measured in square footage, the collective figure for all sectors showed a 15% rise in activity for 2004 compared to 2003. In dollar terms, however, the rise was only 2%. CanaData measures engineering sector activity (water, roads, power, oil and gas) only in dollar terms.
In dollar terms, residential construction starts were 29% higher in 2004 than 2003, and industrial building starts rose 20%. However, institutional and commercial building start values were down by 12% and 19% respectively.
In the engineering sector, roads were the healthiest sector, with a rise of 27% over 2003. Water and sewer works had a 1% rise. Electrical power construction was down by a whopping 57%, and the oil and gas industry declined by 12%.
CanaData is a statistics gathering and forecasting agency, part of Reed Construction Data.
www.reedconstructiondata.ca