Toronto is still North America’s crane king.

The city counts 225 active cranes—8.2 percent more than it did in March 2021, and double the number that were active in the pre-pandemic days.

The findings come from industry analysts Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB) in their third-quarter Crane Index.

The survey tracks the number of operating tower cranes in 14 major cities across the U.S. and Canada. This latest quarterly data reports a 4.5-percent overall decrease in the number of cranes from the first-quarter edition.

Of the 14 cities surveyed: three experienced increases—Los Angeles, San Francisco and Toronto; five held steady—Boston, Calgary, Las Vegas, New York City, and Seattle; and six saw decreases of between 32 percent and 78 percent—Chicago, Denver, Honolulu, Phoenix, Portland and Washington D.C.

“The single thread that can be woven amongst all cities surveyed is uncertainty; it remains a significant factor to the construction market. We see this in cities where crane counts are holding steady, if not decreasing, in their markets,” said the RLB analysis.

“We anticipate better times ahead with previously delayed projects being brought back online; however, this is conditional upon market conditions as the AEC industry continues to experience the effects of COVID-19.”

Tellingly, commercial cranes are down 36 percent (or 20 cranes) collectively, in the cities surveyed.

Ongoing projects in Toronto include the United Building Condos and The One, which is an 85-storey hotel, condominium and retail tower.

Calgary, meanwhile, saw a slight drop in the number of operating cranes. RLB suggested this was due to the completion of a number of key healthcare projects. The multi-family sector remains steady in the city, however, with several buildings recently completed and new projects initiating construction.

The city counting the next-most cranes in operation in North America was Los Angeles with 51. Washington, D.C. (35) and Calgary (32) followed.