28   Quarter 1  2026   BUILDERSDIGEST 
THE CANADIAN ECONOMY AND CONSTRUCTION PART 2
SINCE COVID LOCKED THE  
world down, one shock after 
another has pummelled the Canadian 
economy. This turmoil has taken its toll 
on Canada’s construction industry, but 
economists are cautiously predicting 
improvements over the coming year, with 
a slower recovery in central Canada.
The Canadian Construction Association 
(CCA)’s winter 2026 Construction 
Quarterly Insights Report notes that 
between Q3 and Q4 2025, building 
permits declined by 5.1 per cent across 
the country, and by 15 per cent in Ontario. 
They are expected to rebound a little this 
year in the other provinces.
Likewise, in a November Insights report 
from the real-estate data consultancy 
Altus Group, vice-president and economic 
strategist Peter Norman reported that 
Canada’s GDP dropped sharply in Q2. 
Whereas “commodity-driven provinces 
THE CONSTRUCTION ECONOMY
like Saskatchewan and Alberta have led 
the charge … Central Canada, by contrast, 
has cooled.”
Construction input costs, which have risen 
in recent years due to factors ranging 
from supply chain hiccups to tariffs, will 
likely continue to increase. Those who 
were hoping costs would drop after the 
February ruling by the U.S. Supreme 
Court against President Trump’s global 
tariff structure will likely be disappointed. 
By Sarah Hood
DIVERSIFICATION 
DIVERSIFICATION 
AND PATIENCE:  
AND PATIENCE:  
THRIVING DURING  
THRIVING DURING  
ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY
ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY

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