Ontario Construction News staff writer
Investment in commercial and residential construction across Niagara Region rebound through continued recovery from COVID-19
After experiencing a brief decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic, investment in residential and commercial construction in Niagara has largely recovered and is on the rebound, according to new figures from Statistics Canada.
“Niagara’s business community continues to face significant challenges in its recovery from COVID-19. This report underscores the importance of providing timely, accurate economic data, and we hope this analysis will help encourage a data-driven approach to Niagara’s continued economic response the pandemic, ” said Valerie Kuhns, acting director, Niagara Economic Development.
Economic development staff illustrated in a report how commercial, residential, industrial, and government and institutional construction investment was affected by the initial stages of the pandemic. The data covers the period of January to July 2020.
- Commercial and residential investment and construction activity were significantly affected in April 2020 but rebounded quickly and have remained stable.
- Industrial, institutional and government construction projects, which are typically larger, fewer and take longer to complete, remained relatively stable throughout the same period.
- 2020 is still on track to be a very strong year with investment and building permit values expected to surpass 2019, which was a record year.
The full report can be found on the Niagara Economic Rapid Response Team’s (ERRT) website. It shows promising signs that Niagara maintained its momentum in new investment and development, however economic challenges remain as Niagara faces a second wave of COVID-19 and economic uncertainty.
Data complements results of two business impact surveys conducted by the ERRT earlier this year to paint a more fulsome picture of Niagara’s response to COVID-19. A third business impact survey is expected to be completed before the end of the year, as the ERRT continues to provide usable data to help inform Niagara’s economic recovery.