October 12, 2009
TORONTO – The September Altus Group report examines the effects of the recession on the housing sector and how this has impacted the larger economy. It finds residential investment fell by $8.4 billion between the first half of 2008 and 2009, which in turn translated into a $15.2 billion hit for the broader economy. This includes $3.6 billion in losses coming from the building supply manufacturing industry and $1.3 billion from service industries related to the building process.
The Altus Group reports that recession has led to the loss of 41,000 jobs in the construction industry and an additional 35,000 in related industries. Building product manufacturers were the hardest hit of the related sectors, shedding roughly 13,000 jobs, followed by product distributors who lost 10,400 jobs, and 9,500 jobs among servicers.
The report goes on to discuss the impacts of the global nature of the recession on those same building supply manufacturers. It points to the fact that Canada has generally enjoyed a trade surplus in this category, but that this turned to a deficit in 2007 and has continued to deteriorate. Purchases of Canadian building material exports were down 26 per cent. The US continues to be our largest trading partner in the sector, but the dollar value of our exports to the south has fallen from $23 billion in 1998 to $14 billion in 2008.
