The latest Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE) reveals that at the close of the second quarter of this year, there are 322 projects and 40,297 rooms in Canada’s overall pipeline.

Both data points are records, with the figures representing a 17% increase in projects and an 8% increase in rooms year-over-year.

LE reports that there continues to be a swell of projects under construction in Canada, with 80 projects and 10,603 rooms underway at the close of the second quarter. Those figures are up by 54% and 51% respectively, compared with last year’s second quarter report.

Meanwhile, projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stand at 80 projects and 9,249 rooms, while projects in early planning stand at 162 projects and 20,445 rooms – increases of 20% and 1%, respectively.

Ontario continues to dominate Canada’s hotel project pipeline, accounting for 59% of the projects and 60% of the rooms in the total pipeline and reaching record-high counts of 189 projects and 24,228 rooms. British Columbia follows with a record-high 59 projects, accounting for 8,439 rooms. Combined, the two provinces account for 77% of the projects and 81% of the rooms in the country’s total pipeline at the end of the second quarter.

The top cities by volume are led, again, by Toronto, with 68 projects and 9,532 rooms. The project figure is a new record high, while Toronto’s room volume accounts for 24% of Canada’s total construction pipeline.

Following distantly are Vancouver (21 projects and 4,075 rooms), Montreal (17 projects and 2,062 rooms), Niagara Falls (15 projects accounting for 4,244 rooms), and Ottawa-Gatineau, which also reached a record-high project count, with 14 projects and 1,992 rooms.

Combined, these five cities accounted for 42% of the projects and 54% of the rooms in the total pipeline.

Six new hotels with 815 rooms opened in Canada during the first half of 2024, with an additional 20 new hotels and 2,129 rooms scheduled to open before year-end.

LE’s total new hotel openings forecast for 2024 anticipates 26 new hotels and 2,944 rooms will open by year-end.

Looking ahead, LE analysts forecast another 37 new hotels and 4,055 rooms to open in 2025, for a 1.1% new supply growth rate increase. It anticipates a further 52 new hotels and 5,812 rooms will open in 2026, for a 1.6% new supply growth rate increase.