LE: Canada’s hotel construction pipeline slows

PORTSMOUTH, NH — According to analysts at Lodging Econometrics, Canada’s hotel construction pipeline declined slightly at the close of Q3 2020 to end the quarter at 277 projects or 35,836 rooms. The construction pipeline in Canada is down 4 per cent by projects and 7 per cent by rooms, year-over-year (YOY).

Projects under construction stand at 87 projects or 10,321 rooms, up 2 per cent by projects with no percentage change by rooms YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months recorded 103 projects or 12,037 rooms, down 18 per cent by projects and 17 per cent by rooms YOY, while projects in the early planning stage stand at 87 projects or 13,478 rooms, up 10 per cent by projects and similarly to projects under construction, did not have a percentage change by rooms YOY.

Ontario continues to lead Canada’s construction pipeline with a record high 147 projects or 18,163 rooms, and accounts for 53 per cent of the projects in Canada’s total pipeline. British Columbia follows with 42 projects or 5,970 rooms, and then Alberta with 30 projects or 4,770 rooms, and Quebec with 27 projects or 3,613 rooms. Collectively, these four provinces account for 90 per cent of the rooms in Canada’s pipeline.

The top five cities are led by Toronto with 57 projects or 8,065 rooms and accounting for 23 per cent of all the projects in Canada’s total construction pipeline. Following distantly is Montreal at record counts with 19 projects or 2,595 rooms, Vancouver with 12 projects or 1,662 rooms, Ottawa with 10 projects or 1,783 rooms, and Niagara Falls with 10 projects or 1,688 rooms. These five cities combined account for 44 per cent of the rooms in the total pipeline.

The top franchise companies in Canada’s construction pipeline are Hilton Worldwide at an all-time high with 68 projects or 8,243 rooms and Marriott International with 66 projects or 8,224 rooms. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) follows with 51 projects or 4,854 rooms. Combined, these three franchise companies claim 67 per cent of the projects in the total pipeline.

The top brands in Canada’s pipeline are IHG’s Holiday Inn Express with 30 projects or 2,929 rooms, and Hampton by Hilton with 29 projects or 3,278 rooms. Fairfield Inn by Marriott follows with 16 projects or 1,534 rooms, at an all-time high.

Other notable brands in Canada’s pipeline are Marriott’s TownePlace Suites with 14 projects or 1,546 rooms, Hilton’s Home2Suites, at an all-time high, with 13 projects or 1,390 rooms, and Courtyard by Marriott with 12 projects or 1,866 rooms.

*COVID-19 (coronavirus) has had an unprecedented impact on the country and the hospitality industry. LE’s market intelligence department has and will continue to gather global hotel intelligence on the supply side of the lodging industry and make that information available to our subscribers. It is still early to predict the full impact the pandemic will have on the lodging industry. We will have more information to report in the coming months.