Canada’s hotel pipeline slows in Q4
The volume of activity in Canada’s hotel pipeline slowed somewhat in the late stages of 2021.
Analysts Lodging Econometrics’ data for the fourth quarter of the year shows 262 projects with a total of 35,325 rooms under construction across the country. The volume of projects is down 3 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, while the volume of rooms is up 2 percent.
At the close of 2021, projects under construction stand at 62 projects and 8,100 rooms. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stand at 85 projects and 10,536 rooms, while those in the early planning stage are at an all-time high for the fourth quarter, with 115 projects and 16,689 rooms, a 15-percent increase in projects and a 14-percent increase in rooms compared to 2021.
Ontario continues to lead Canada’s construction pipeline. The province reached its highest project count since the fourth quarter of 2019, with 154 projects and 19,818 rooms. Ontario accounts for 59 percent of the projects and 56 percent of the rooms in Canada’s total pipeline.
British Columbia follows with 37 projects and 5,675 rooms, then Alberta with 24 projects and 3,739 rooms, and Quebec with 18 projects and 2,481 rooms.
Markets with the most projects in the pipeline continue to be led by Toronto, at an all-time high, with 65 projects and 9,621 rooms. Toronto alone has 25 percent of all the projects in Canada’s construction pipeline.
Vancouver (14 projects/2,016 rooms), Niagara Falls (13 projects/2,341 rooms), Montreal (13 projects/1,956 rooms) and Ottawa (10 projects/1,694 rooms) rounded out the country’s top-five cities. Combined, the cities account for 44 percent of the projects and 50 percent of the rooms in Canada’s total pipeline.
Canada had 35 new hotels with 3,742 rooms open in 2021 at a growth rate of 1.1 percent. In 2022, the country is forecast to have a growth rate of 1.2 percent with 38 new hotels/4,251 rooms expected to open. Lodging Econometrics is forecasting a slight increase in Canada’s growth rate to 1.3 percent in 2023 and expects 41 new hotels/4,632 rooms to open by year-end.