New home construction in the GTA produces $5.2 billion in wages
By Lucas on Jun 22, 2017
There’s been plenty of talk and headlines about the Greater Toronto Area’s (GTA) housing market cooling, and it looks like we are in store for a gentle correction. When the market cools, there are less sales and less construction, so what does that mean for our economy?
The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) recently shared a few figures via the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA), the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), and Statistics Canada, demonstrating how much the new home building industry and renovation and repair industry contribute to the GTA’s overall economy.
In 2016, there was a total of 173,719 onsite and offsite jobs in home construction and renovation and repair. That is nearly 23,000 less than 2015, but still significantly higher than 2014.
The residential renovation and repair industry accounted for 85,876 jobs, while there were 87,843 home construction jobs. The home construction jobs are directly influenced by sales and housing starts. Last year, there were 40,277 housing starts in the GTA, about 4,000 less than in 2015.
The City of Toronto accounted for nearly half of the starts last year, reaching 19,617 units. According to CMC’s recent housing starts report for May 2017, Toronto housing starts dropped 44%.
If low inventory is causing less sales and thereby causing fewer starts, it’s safe to assume that employment levels will likely decrease. The math is simple; less cosntruction equals less jobs. It’s estimated that every construction crane represents up to 500 jobs.
And it’s not just onsite construction jobs at risk. So much goes into developing and building a new low-rise community or condo project; there are urban planners, architects, engineers, financiers, lawyers, designers, marketers, brokers, sales representatives, carpenters, masons, drywallers, welders, electricians, plumbers, etc.
Last year, the new home construction industry produced $5.2 billion in paid wages, while the renovation and repair industry equalled about the same at $5 billion. That’s more than $10 billion going towards single people, couples, and families, and they all use that money to live, shop and play in the GTA and surrounding areas.
We believe that a healthy housing market is key to a strong economy, and BILD makes an important note that “our industry produces jobs as well as communities.” As the market takes a breather, let’s try to remember that the money we’re all spending to buy a new home is going a long way in supporting thousands of hardworking families.
