PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — At the close of Q2 2019, the total hotel-construction pipeline in Canada hit an all-time high with 273 projects/35,787 rooms, according to analysts at Lodging Econometrics (LE). This represents a year-over-year increase in projects of 14 per cent and a 20-per-cent increase in rooms in the pipeline.
Currently, there are 92 projects/11,118 rooms under construction. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stand at 95 projects/11,097 rooms, with projects in the early planning stage at 86 projects/13,572 rooms — both stages hitting record high counts.
During the first half of 2019, 28 new hotels (3,213 rooms) opened in Canada, with an additional 23 new hotels (2,579 rooms) scheduled to open before yearend.
LE forecasts indicate 64 new hotels with 6,758 rooms expected to open in 2020, with an additional 67 new hotels (7,428 rooms) forecast for 2021. Should all these hotels come to fruition, 2021 will set an all-time-high for new hotel openings.
Ontario leads the country with the most projects in the pipeline, with a record-high 140 projects/17,778 rooms. Next is British Columbia, also at a record high, with 43 projects/5,877 rooms, followed by Alberta with 36 projects/5,667 rooms. Together, the three provinces account for 82 per cent of the rooms in Canada’s pipeline.
Toronto claims the title of top city, with 49 projects/7,000 rooms — a record high — claiming 20 per cent of all rooms in Canada’s total construction pipeline. Following distantly are Vancouver with 13 projects/1,536 rooms, Ottawa with 12 projects/1,868 rooms, Calgary with 12 projects/1,395 rooms and Niagara Falls with 10 projects/2,445 rooms. These five cities account for 40 per cent of the rooms in the total pipeline.
Three franchise companies make up 56 per cent of Canadian pipeline projects, with 55 projects under Hilton Worldwide, 54 Marriott International projects and 45 InterContinental Hotels Group projects across the country.
