Modular control tower by ModSpace at Suncor Energy’s oil sands extraction facility in Alberta, Canada.
Though still not back to pre-recession levels, Canada’s commercial construction sector appears to be improving, according to a number of recent reports. The latest statistics from CanaData indicate that construction spending has seen relatively strong quarterly increases through the final quarter of this year, despite declines the second, third and fourth quarters of 2011.
Specifically, the volume of commercial building has risen in seven of Canada’s 11 major metropolitan areas this year, according to CanaData. Montreal, the second-largest city in Canada, has experienced a 33.7 percent uptick in commercial building in 2012.
The Journal of Commerce reports that this increase in commercial construction coincides with a rise in office-based employment, which has jumped by a significant margin over the past year in St. John’s, Winnipeg and Halifax, among other major cities. In Halifax particularly, Statistics Canada indicated that construction prices climbed 2.3 percent over the previous year, as the city in Nova Scotia is experiencing a “construction boom not seen in years,” according to the Chronicle Herald.
Modular Buildings Contribute to Canada’s Construction Recovery
The trend of more businesses seeing value in modular buildings across the U.S. appears to have caught on in Canada as well. A recent Daily Commercial News column noted it has become clear that modular construction can limit cost, time and maintenance.
The uses of modular buildings vary significantly, across Canada and elsewhere. They can serve as medical facilities, temporary classrooms, portable office trailers and even large-scale parking lots, as we are currently seeing at one Canadian university.
According to Daily Commercial News, students at the University of Windsor have faced significant parking challenges for years. The university is wedged in between Windsor’s business district and the Ambassador Bridge making room for parking a limited commodity.
As a result, the university has made parking a priority in its three-year “campus transformation plan,” and is turning to prefabricated construction to meet this challenge. The structure, which will hold hundreds of parking spaces, will be environmentally friendly and able to withstand various weather events—just a few of the many benefits of modular buildings.