PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — The total construction pipeline in Canada currently stands at 261 projects/35,662 rooms, up three per cent by projects year-over-year (YOY) and up seven per cent by rooms YOY, according to Lodging Econometrics (LE) Q2 2022 Canada Construction Pipeline Trend Report.
During the first half of 2022, Canada’s tourism-and-hospitality sector saw an increasing number of domestic and international visitors. Larger group demand has been slow to return, but smaller group, meetings and leisure activity is picking up in urban areas and popular tourist destinations. As booking and occupancy numbers have increased in these markets, so has the interest of developers and investors.
Currently, there are 59 projects/7,657 rooms under construction in Canada. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months have the most substantial shift in projects YOY, showing a 32-per-cent increase with 98 projects/13,707 rooms. Projects in the early planning stage are at 104 projects/14,298 rooms.
Ontario leads the provinces with most projects — 148 projects and a record-high 20,539 rooms, accounting for 57 per cent of the projects in Canada’s total pipeline. British Columbia follows with 42 projects/6,868 rooms and then Alberta with 23 projects/2,125 rooms. Together, these provinces account for 82 per cent of the rooms in the total pipeline.
The top five cities are led by Toronto with 64 projects/9,262 rooms, claiming 25 per cent of all projects in Canada’s total construction pipeline. Next is Vancouver, with record-high project and room counts of 18 projects/2,661 rooms, then Montreal with 14 projects/2,038 rooms, Niagara Falls with 12 projects/3,797 rooms and Ottawa-Hull with 10 projects/1,693 rooms. Together, these cities account for 55 per cent of the rooms in the total pipeline.
The top franchise companies are Marriott International, leading with record-highs of 73 projects/10,096 rooms, followed by Hilton Worldwide with 64 projects/7,682 rooms, and InterContinental Hotels Groups (IHG) with 42 projects/4,325 rooms. These three companies make up 69 per cent of the total projects in the pipeline. The largest brands in the pipeline for each company are Hilton’s Hampton by Hilton with 26 projects/2,930 rooms; IHG’s Holiday Inn Express with 20 projects/2,157 rooms; and Marriott’s Fairfield Inn with 17 projects/1,613 rooms.
In the first half of 2022, Canada had 10 new hotel openings, accounting for 1,053 rooms. LE forecasts 24 new hotel openings in the second half of the year, for a total of 34 projects/4,103 rooms and supply growth rate of 1.2 per cent. In 2024, Canada should see 43 projects/4,567 rooms open for a growth rate of 1.3 per cent.
