September 2024
MARKET REPORT & INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT
Presented by: Edmonton Construction Association
Building Permit Values
The total value of building permits (unadjusted for seasonality) issued in the Edmonton CMA in July increased 47% from a year earlier to $632.3 million.
For the year-to-date, the total value of permits issued across the Metro area was up 47% from January to July 2023 to $3.84 billion.
The total value of building permits (unadjusted) issued in the city of Edmonton increased by 60.8% year-over-year in August to $433.8 million.
So far this year, the total value of building intentions within the city of Edmonton was up 37.7% from the same time in 2023 to $2.87 billion.
Number of Building Permits
There were 1,747 building permits issued by the city of Edmonton in August, for a gain of 16.7% from year-ago levels.
After eight months this year, the number of permits issued reached 12,450, up 26.6% from January to August 2023.
Housing Starts
Total housing starts in the Edmonton Metro Area were up 27% year-over-year in August to 1,868 units. The 691 single-family units started represented the best August performance since 2007.
Within Edmonton City, total starts increased 24.4% from August 2023 to 1,495 units. So far this year, total starts across Metro have increased almost 49% from first eight months of 2023 to 11,924 units.
Inside the city of Edmonton, starts so far in 2024 have increased 48.4% to 8,888 units.
Housing Starts
Investment in New Building Construction
Investment in new building construction was up in the Edmonton Region by 55.2% from a year prior in July to $597.2 million. Residential investment was up 59% to $443.4 million.
For the year-to-date, total new construction investment increased in the Edmonton area by 42.3% over January to July 2023 to $3.56 billion.
Constructions Contribution to GDP
The construction sector accounted for 8% of Alberta’s GDP in 2023, representing $26.95 billion in economic activity.
Measured in constant (2017) dollars, this level of activity was down 5.3% from 2022 when the construction sector accounted for 8.6% of the province’s GDP.
Major Projects - City of Edmonton
According to the Alberta government’s major project tracking report, there were 172 major projects valued over $5 million either planned or underway in the city of Edmonton during August, up from 153 in May.
Total estimated value of these projects was $44.8 billion, up 2.1% from three months earlier.
Total Employed in Construction
There were 261,900 people working in construction (unadjusted) in Alberta during the month of August, down 1.4% from a year prior. (Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey).
This sector represented 10.2% of total employment across the province compared with 10.6% in August 2023.
Construction employment in Greater Edmonton stood at 92,800 persons in August, up 11.3% year-over-year.
Unemployed in Construction
The unemployment rate (unadjusted) for the construction industry in Alberta stood at 5.9% in August, up from 3.6% a year earlier.
Statistics Canada estimated there were 16,500 unemployed construction workers in the Alberta labour force in August compared with 9,900 a year ago.
Average Weekly Earnings - Alberta Construction
Average weekly earnings for construction workers in Alberta decreased 1.5% year-over-year in July to $1,627.
During the first 7 months of 2024, the average earnings for the industry (unadjusted) were up 0.7% compared with January to July 2023.
Building Construction Price Indexes
The Statistics Canada residential construction price index for Edmonton increased in the second quarter of 2024 by 3.2% from April to June of last year. The price index for non-residential buildings was up 5% from the second quarter of 2023.
Inflation/CPI
The consumer price index in the Edmonton CMA decreased in August to 1.7%, compared with a 2.4% rise in July.
Edmonton’s annualized inflation rate in August 2023 was up 4.2% year-over-year.
Alberta Net Migration
Alberta’s population growth remained high by historic standards during the second quarter due to a continued strong influx of newcomers from both outside of Canada and from other provinces.
Total net migration from all sources amounted to 41,531 people during the second quarter, for an increase of 1.7% from April through June 2023.
