(Montreal) The construction industry in Quebec is expected to remain above 200 million working hours in 2023 and 2024, while the residential sector is still lagging behind other sectors.
The Quebec Construction Commission published its forecasts for 2024 earlier this week and it appears that the industry will continue to be strong, generally speaking, despite a slight decline.
The CCQ expects the industry to record 207.5 million hours of work in 2023 and 202 million hours in 2024.
Two sectors of the industry will stand out in 2023 “against all expectations”, according to the CCQ, namely institutional-commercial as well as civil engineering-roads. Both will reach peaks this year, according to the Commission.
The residential sector will be “the only one to decline this year”. It is expected to lose 14% to 36.5 million work hours. The decrease in construction starts began in 2022. The residential sector is particularly affected by the increase in interest rates and construction costs, notes the CCQ.
The CCQ expects the difficulties in the residential sector to continue in 2024, with another decline of 12%.