Construction costs rose more in Vancouver than in any other city in Canada during the past two years and were predicted to go up about 4 per cent this year, says a national tracking study.

The costs are increasing at a time when the province is on a massive drive to deliver big infrastructure projects, including two SkyTrain lines and a new Pattullo Bridge, along with thousands of units of low-cost housing.

Only Ottawa, a much smaller metropolitan region that is undergoing a surge of federal projects and private-sector tech startups, came close, according to Turner & Townsend, a company that does cost accounting and project management. It tracks about 300 projects annually in seven major cities.

Vancouver’s costs increased by 5.19 per cent in 2018 and 6.39 per cent in 2019, with slightly more than 4 per cent anticipated for 2020.

Average construction costs everywhere in Canada exceeded the rate of inflation.

“We’re seeing a shortage of subtrades capable of delivering complex projects,” said Gerard McCabe, the Canadian management director for Turner & Townsend. “And construction costs are not necessarily linked to inflation. In a market where there’s a significant level of activity, costs will go up.”

Those predictions are less certain now because of the recent and ever-changing estimates of the impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.

If there’s a global slowdown and fewer investors are prepared to put money into new construction projects, that could mean less competition for labour and supplies and potentially reduce costs significantly, Mr. McCabe said.

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