Photo Credit: Trudy Finlay
Luxury condominium development in the heart of old St. John’s (former home of the Benevolent Irish Society, circa 1877).

The construction industry is having an excellent year with increases in both private and public sector expenditure. Construction employment averaged 11,900 persons in the first ten months of 1999, up 15.0% over the same period last year.

Building construction over the January to September period was up in all major centres of the Province with the exception of Corner Brook. While St. John’s has the highest level of construction activity among major centres, Gander is the growth leader with a year-to-date increase of over 300%.

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Non-residential
A record level of capital investment is fueling activity in the construction industry. Statistics Canada’s survey of investment intentions points to a 40% increase in total construction investment, the highest growth rate in construction spending of any province. Construction is rising largely as a result of ongoing oil and gas development, however, government and institutional construction programs are also significant this year. For example, Government spending on capital road construction ($120 million) represents the Province’s largest roads program ever.

Residential
A strong first half gain of 5.1% in housing starts has been attributed to favourable spring weather which resulted in an early start to the construction season. Third quarter starts, however, were below those of the previous year. Consequently, total housing starts in the first nine months of this year were 1,018 units, down 6.4% from the same period in 1998.

Urban starts were down 5.5% (to 668 units) while rural starts were down 8.1% to 350 units. Activity in larger centres was somewhat mixed, with housing starts in St. John’s and Grand Falls/Windsor recording moderate increases, while starts in Corner Brook and Gander were significantly lower than during the first three quarters of 1998.

Total housing related capital investment in 1999 is expected to increase 1.7% to $463 million based on Statistics Canada’s survey of investment intentions. About three-quarters of housing investment is now related to renovations of existing houses and conversions of existing buildings to condominiums. This segment of the industry has generated most of the growth in residential construction in recent years.