Hotel Construction Pipeline in Canada shows increase in Q1 2024

This new record-high in project counts represents an impressive 11 per cent increase in project counts and a 5 per cent increase in room numbers year-over-year (YOY).

In Canada, there was a surge of projects that moved into the under construction stage in 2023. Currently, there are 70 projects/9,151 rooms under construction in Canada, up 49 per cent and 58 per cent YOY, respectively. Additionally, at the close of the first quarter, there are 80 projects/9,593 rooms scheduled to start construction in the next twelve months—while projects and rooms in the early planning stage reached all-time highs of 164 projects/20,884 rooms, increasing 13 per cent and 1 per cent YOY, respectively.

At the Q1 close, hotel construction projects in the province of Ontario account for 59 per cent of the projects and 60 per cent of the rooms in the total pipeline, for new all-time highs of 186 projects and 23,839 rooms. Following Ontario, the largest number of projects and rooms in the pipeline at Q1 is the province of British Columbia with a record 57 projects/8,290 rooms, then Quebec, with 20 projects/2,403 rooms. These three provinces account for 84 per cent of the projects and 87 per cent of the rooms in the total pipeline in Canada at Q1.

In terms of cities, Toronto boasts the highest number of construction projects in the pipeline with a record-high 67 projects totaling 9,323 rooms, followed by Vancouver with 21 projects/4,079 rooms, then Montreal with 15 projects/1,912 rooms. Ottawa-Hull notably reached a new record of 14 projects with 1,992 rooms, increasing 40 per cent and 27 per cent YOY, respectively.

Five new hotels with 704 rooms opened in Canada during the first quarter. An additional 26 new hotels, accounting for 3,050 rooms, are scheduled to open by year-end. According to LE analysts, a total of 31 new hotels and 3,754 rooms will open in 2024, for a 1 per cent growth rate compared to the 26 new hotels/3,344 rooms that opened in 2023. LE analysts forecast new hotel openings in Canada will continue to rise through year-end 2025 with a total of 39 new hotel openings with 3,869 rooms, marking a 1.1 per cent new supply growth rate increase.