The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) / Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors Construction Monitor Q2 2024 revealed that overall sentiment remains positive and to a similar extent as in the first three months of the year. Construction activity came in at +23 as against +24 in Q1, so barely changed and still growing. Interestingly, this figure is similar across construction firms of all sizes, indicating a consistent picture across the sector.

Current workloads continue to grow and like many other construction sectors across the globe, including the United States, infrastructure leads the way on sentiment toward growth. Within infrastructure projects, the strongest areas of growth appear to be in energy and transportation.

New housing project starts, prices and sales remain a little more subdued, but the RICS-CIQS dataset is designed to capture ongoing development work rather than new spades in the ground or completion transactions. Meanwhile, the office and retail construction sectors continue to indicate negative trends. Looking at credit conditions, at the time the questionnaire was open, the Bank of Canada had only made one cut in interest rates but since survey field work closed, it sanctioned a further quarter point move. Moreover, what appears to be a dovish pivot by the Bank of Canada, is fuelling the suspicion that further monetary accommodation will come through quicker than markets had previously anticipated. This promotes a more hopeful outlook.