PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — According to the year-end Lodging Econometrics (LE) Construction Pipeline Trend Report for Canada, the country ended 2023 at 294 projects/38,396 rooms, a mere 11 projects shorts of the country’s peak of 305 projects achieved in Q4 2019. Canada’s pipeline is up 10 per cent by projects and seven per cent by rooms year-over-year (YOY).
At the close of 2023, there are 66 projects/8,998 rooms under construction, up 27 per cent by projects and 36 per cent by rooms YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction within the next 12 months are at 85 projects/9,810 rooms, while those in early planning are at 143 projects/19,588 rooms, up 12 per cent by projects and 15 per cent by rooms YOY.
New project announcements (NPAs) in the country were at their highest at Q4 2023 since Q3 2021, with 37 projects/4,191 rooms, up 35 per cent by projects and 26 per cent by rooms. LE analysts expect Canada’s hotel-construction pipeline to remain strong and continue to expand through 2024 as construction starts in the country increased 44 per cent YOY by projects and 49 per cent by rooms at the close of Q4. Upper midscale projects account for nearly 50 per cent of the projects in the total pipeline at Q4 with record-high counts of 132 projects and 13,860 rooms. Upper upscale projects in Canada also reached record-high project and room counts, with 20 projects/4,606 rooms at the end of 2023.
Accounting for 59 per cent of the projects and 60 per cent of the rooms in Canada’s total pipeline, the province of Ontario continues to lead with the largest number of projects in the pipeline at Q4 with all-time high counts of 173 projects/23,112 rooms. British Columbia follows with 54 projects/7,893 rooms, then the province of Quebec with 22 projects/2,674 rooms and the province of Alberta with 17 projects/1,774 rooms.
Cities in Canada with the most projects in the pipeline continue to be led by Toronto with a record 65 projects/9,391 rooms. Distantly following are Vancouver with record high totals of 23 projects/4,317 rooms; Montreal with 16 projects/2,123 rooms; and Niagara Falls, Ont. with 11 projects/3,999 rooms.
Canada had 25 new hotels with 3,278 rooms open in 2023. In 2024, LE forecasts that 29 new hotels/3,698 rooms will open. LE is forecasting a slight increase in Canada’s growth rate from 0.9 per cent at the end of 2023 to one per cent in 2024 and again in 2025 to 1.1 per cent with 40 new hotels/4,013 rooms expected to open by year-end.
