The volume of construction activity in Saskatchewan is picking up.
Builders have not always been busy over the past four or five years, so, this is a welcome development as we seem to be setting our own pace.
The gain from January to February this year in residential investment was more than 13 per cent. That was a larger increase than we saw in any other province. We were seeing increases in other categories too — areas such fresh capital flowing to the construction of commercial and industrial properties.
This is one more sign of how rising commodity prices are triggering growth across Saskatchewan’s economy. New buildings are needed to house suppliers who are expanding to meet growing customer demand which, in turn, means we attract more people. They need additional housing — and then places to shop which fuels the retail commercial sector.
On the residential front, which showed the most activity, builders and investors were focused on single-family units while development of new multi-family projects fell back following a spurt last fall.
