(Photo courtesy ©Can Stock Photo Inc. / Tund)(Photo courtesy ©Can Stock Photo Inc. / Tund)
London

Contractors Anticipate Busy Construction Season

Bus rapid transit has London contractors optimistic about the upcoming construction season.

According to a survey of 500 construction contractors done by the Ontario Construction Secretariat (OCS), confidence in the industry in London surpasses the provincial average with the city scoring 62 out of 100.

"43% of contractors in London actually expect to do more work in 2017 than they did in 2016. That is quite optimistic," said Sean Strickland, CEO of the OCS. "A good percentage of contractors expect to do the same amount of work this year as they did last. 2016 was a pretty good year in London for the construction industry so things are looking quite positive in the city for 2017."

The results of the Construction Confidence Indicator were recently released at an OCS conference in Toronto. The indicator analyzes expectations of growth across five construction sectors - industrial, commercial, engineering/civil, institutional, and high-rise residential.

In London, 50% of contractors surveyed expect to see significant growth in the civil sector, which includes roads, bridges, and tunnels. Another 57% anticipate a major jump in high-rise residential work.

Even though construction on bus rapid transit won't begin this year, Strickland believes it is the driving force behind the positive outlook.

"We are seeing this phenomena in all of the cities across the province where higher orders of transit are put into place," said Strickland. "We all know the story in Toronto, new subway line, new light rail rapid transit, and high-rise residential takes off. We've seen a lot of that in the Vaughn area, Ottawa similarly , and in Kitchener-Waterloo as well. I think London is starting to see some of that activity related to future construction and operation of bus rapid transit."

Low interest rates, a strong U.S. economy, and a low Canadian dollar are also believed to be contributing factors.

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