b'CONSTRUCTION PRIORITIES: HIGH-RISE CONSTRUCTION CRISISGTAS HIGH-RISE COLLAPSEA CONSTRUCTION LABOUR CRISISBy Matthew BradfordONCE UPON A TIME, TORONTOSworst year for sales in three-and-a-halfAll told, says John Mollenhauer, president skyline was defined by cranes anddecades, sending ripples through and CEO of TCA, the time for warnings rising towers. Today, an upsurge in emptythe industry.is long past. Weve been sounding the condos and abandoned projects offers aalarm for a while. Its not about whether less optimistic outlook for stakeholdersBy the third quarter of this year, thethere is a crisis or how big it isits a in high-rise construction. What wereindustry watchers research shows thatcrisis. Most of the conversations are now seeing is the collapse of what hasnew condo sales peaked at just 319focused on what could drive a recovery, been an extraordinary run for high-riseunitsa 54-per-cent decrease fromwhat that recovery might look like and residential, says Jeff Murva, veteran2024 and the lowest quarterly total sincehow long that recovery might take. industry voice and president at J Murva1990. Declining sales have led to the Consulting Ltd. If you think back just acancellation of 18 projects (2,499 units)The best guess from people we heard few years ago, everywhere you looked,in 2025 alone (32 since 2024), withfrom is that were probably looking at you saw a tower crane. Now, theresmany others on hold due to poor sales or2029 or 2030, he adds.almost one-fifth of what there used in receivership.to be. A CRASH IN SLOW MOTIONIt was not long ago that the high- Construction starts are also in freefall.Several forces have converged in recent rise residential construction sectorQ3 saw only two projects totalling 614years to stall the high-rise sector, with accounted for roughly 60 per cent of allunits begin construction, equating to aescalating costs being among the buildings, serving as a reliable catalyst77-per-cent decline from a year earliermost significant. Tariffs, supply chain for jobs, investment and growth. Cutand 88 per cent below the 10-yeardisruptions and material price inflation to 2025, and the high-rise sector isaverage. Meanwhile, year-to-date startshave driven up the cost of virtually experiencing what Urbanation calls theof 2,176 units represent a 28-year low. all construction materials and items, 18Quarter 42025 BUILDERSDIGEST'