Hotel volume rises in Q2
The volume of under-construction and planned hotel construction projects is once again on the rise.
Hospitality industry analysts Lodging Econometrics released their Canada Construction Pipeline Trend Report for the second quarter of the year on August 3. The report shows that Canada’s total hotel construction pipeline is at 261 projects and 35,662 room, up 3% by projects and 7% by rooms year-over-year.
During the first half of the year, Canada’s tourism and hospitality sector saw an increasing number of domestic and international visitors. While larger group demand has been slow to return, smaller group, meetings, and leisure activity is on the upswing in urban areas and popular tourist destinations.
As booking and occupancy numbers have increased, so has the interest of developers and investors.
There currently are 59 projects and 7,657 rooms under construction across the country. The volume of projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months has jumped by 32% with 98 projects and 13,707 rooms, while those in the early planning stage are at 104 projects and 14,298 rooms.
Ontario dominates with the most activity in the pipeline: 148 projects and a record-high of 20,539 rooms. Ontario accounts for 57% of the projects in Canada’s total pipeline. British Columbia follows with 42 projects and 6,868 rooms, and Alberta with 23 projects and 2,125 rooms. Combined, the provinces account for 82% of the rooms in Canada’s pipeline.
Toronto leads among cities, with 64 projects and 9,262 rooms – or about 25% of all projects in Canada’s total construction pipeline. Vancouver counts record highs of 18 projects and 2,661 rooms, followed by Montreal (14 projects/2,038 rooms), Niagara Falls (12 projects/3,797 rooms), and Ottawa-Gatineau (10 projects/1,693 rooms). These five cities account for 55% of the rooms in the total pipeline.
In the first half of the year, Canada saw 10 new hotel openings accounting for 1,053 rooms. Lodging Econometrics predicts another 24 new hotel openings in the second half of the year, for a total of 34 projects and 4,103 rooms to open in 2022.
In 2023, the company is forecasting 38 projects and 4,182 rooms to open, while 2024 should see 43 projects and 4,576 rooms.