Ontario Construction News staff writer
Toronto continues to rein when it comes to the crane count across North America.
According to the latest Rider Levett Bucknall’s Crane Index for North America, which tracks the number of operating tower cranes in 14 major cities across the US and Canada, Toronto has seen a 21% increase over last year.
April’s Crane Index showed cities reporting increases in construction cranes include Chicago, Denver, New York, San Francisco, and Toronto. The only other Canadian city mentioned in the Index is Calgary, one North American city reporting a decrease in cranes, along with Boston, Portland, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.
Toronto maintained its top spot, even though project completions took away 18 cranes from the previous survey. The commercial sector leads the change in the numbers, with an increase of 18 cranes. Residential and mixed-use projects also experienced growth, with a combined increase of seven cranes.
Generally, the top three sectors for cranes are residential, mixed-use, and commercial.
“We expect the crane count to remain steady, as many projects are experiencing delays in their schedules due to supply chain issues and construction costs continue to climb up, giving some developers hesitancy to break ground at this time,” reads the Index.
Toronto has lead the crane count in North America since 2015.
With previously delayed projects being brought back online, the crane count experienced an increase of 22 cranes.
As is historically consistent, residential cranes make up 50% of the count, while mixed-use makes up 22%.
The third most-active sector is commercial, making up 10% of the total count.
“We expect the crane count to remain steady, as many projects are experiencing delays in their schedules due to supply chain issues and construction costs continue to climb up, giving some developers hesitancy to break ground,” the report concludes.
