It’s summer in Canada, which, for most of us, also means road construction season! While we don’t have stats on how many orange cones you have to weave around (at a safe speed!) or on the number of minutes you’re stuck in traffic (will it ever end!), we can give you a shovelful of other related numbers.
Length of roads, useful life, value
There are a lot of roads that could need repair or replacement at any given time. Our most recent data on the length of roads are from 2020, when there were just over 1 million kilometres of publicly owned road assets nationwide.
Over half of those kilometres were local roads, and about one-tenth were arterial roads. So, while you’ll definitely see highway construction on your summer road trip, chances are you’re going to encounter some work closer to home, too.
In 2022, the average age of Canada’s highway and road structures and networks (both publicly and privately owned) was 10.1 years. The average age peaked in 1991 through 1994 (12.1 years) and was at its lowest in 2012 and 2013 (9.3 years) since the current data series began in 1981.
Number of businesses, workers
As of December 2022, there were 3,351 business locations nationwide in the highway, street and bridge construction industry group, down from 3,404 in June 2022.
In addition to new construction of highways, roads, sidewalks and bridges, establishments in this industry group also do rehabilitation, reconstruction and other specialized work such as installing guardrails, signage and line painting.
In March 2023, there were 56,236 Canadians on the payroll in this industry group, accounting for 4.8% of the nearly 1.2 million employees in the construction sector overall (on a seasonally adjusted basis), and up from 55,952 in March 2022.
Labour shortage, other challenges
The construction sector continues to look for help. In March 2023, there were 69,500 job vacancies in the sector. This translated to a job vacancy rate of 6.1%, behind only accommodation and food services (7.8%), other services (6.2%), and on par with health care and social assistance (6.1%). Across all industry sectors, the vacancy rate was 4.5%.
In the second quarter of 2023, recruiting skilled employees was an obstacle expected by two in five businesses (40.6%) in the construction sector over the next three months. Overall, 8 in 10 construction sector businesses (80.8%) expected their number of employees to stay about the same.
Construction costs vary
In the second quarter of 2023, the most commonly expected obstacles expected over the next three months for construction businesses were rising inflation (51.3%), followed by the rising cost of inputs (42.6%).
Various industrial products manufactured in Canada have risen or fallen in price, depending on the product.
Vehicles and equipment have also risen in price. Logging, mining and construction machinery and equipment (+15.9%), freight and utility trailers (+14.3%), and medium and heavy-duty trucks and chassis (+12.3%) cost more in the first quarter of 2023 compared with the same quarter of 2022.
Conversely, prices for other metal products for architecture and construction (such as highway guardrails) declined by 11.0% in May 2023 compared with May 2022. Diesel fuel refined in Canada saw a 41.5% drop over the same period, leading to lower prices at the pump.
Prices for asphalt (except natural) and asphalt products, which include paving mixtures and blocks, declined by 16.9% from May 2022 to May 2023, while concrete products rose in price by the same percentage.
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Contact information
For more information, contact the Statistical Information Service (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).