Mid-Year Construction Industry Survey
September 11, 2025
Earlier in the year, we sent out a survey to our State of the Industry and Outlook Conference (SIOC) attendees to get their thoughts on how the shifting economic landscape was affecting the construction industry. At that time, most people had a positive outlook, however, concerns about a slowdown in work and rising costs were emerging. In July, we once again reached out to stakeholders to see where things landed in the first half of the year, and where people saw things heading.
- Outlook: Survey respondents noted that ICI sector market conditions for the first half of the year were relatively lukewarm, with two-thirds of respondents reporting neutral or positive conditions for the first half of 2025. Only 3% said that conditions were very weak. Looking forward to the balance of the year, we see some marginal improvement in the outlook, with three quarters of respondents reporting a neutral or positive outlook. Anticipated project volume mirrored the forward-looking outlook, with three-quarters expecting stable or increasing volume.
- Tariffs: Despite the volatile nature of the tariff situation, about 40% of respondents reported little to no disruption from tariffs, and a third experienced moderate disruption. Only 20% of responses indicated high or severe disruption. Among those that experienced moderate or more serious disruption, delays and cancellations were the most oft mentioned consequence. Other disruptions included material and price uncertainty as well as slowdown in both the steel and auto sectors. Looking at project delays and cancellations, a little over half reported an increase, yet on the other end, 40% saw no change. Overall, the picture is mixed, and the small sample size makes it difficult to draw any concrete conclusions, but overall things appear to be more balanced than initially anticipated.
- Challenges: Responses were similar to the post-SIOC survey, where slowdown in work and needing skilled workers were the most frequently mentioned challenges. The next most mentioned issues were increased competition, uncertainty, and costs.
- Opportunities: About a quarter of responses mentioned new and ongoing infrastructure projects as a common reason for optimism in the ICI sector. There was also mention of hospitals/medical buildings, data centres, and sectoral strength in commercial and institutional.
- Labour: Contractors reported that they could access labour when they needed from the union halls and likewise unions reported they could supply workers when needed. However, some contractors still said they needed more workers. On the union side, responses indicated that some halls are also moderately populated. Altogether, this suggests that there may be an imbalance in some trades or regions, which is consistent with forecasts from BuildForce Canada.
Overall: Compared to the Post-SIOC Survey, significantly fewer people reported tariffs as a concern, and despite a little over half reporting an increase in cancellations and delays, most expected project volume and ICI market conditions to improve in the latter half of 2025. However, while worst-case scenario thinking was less frequent in this survey, optimism was also curbed, and uncertainty still lingers.