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Industrial Product Price Index, Selected Construction Materials Series

(See table 2)

In the first quarter of 2008, the four largest quarterly price changes were increases for structural steel shapes (+11.0%) and sheet, strip and plate carbon steel (+ 8.3%) and decreases for plywood from Douglas fir (-5.9%) and plywood from other softwood (-5.7%).

The price level for structural steel shapes, which had begun to increase in December, continued to rise in January and saw a strong increase in February. Iron and steel scrap, which is of some importance as input into the production of the steel used for structural steel shapes, also began to rise in December with a very sharp increase being observed in January 2008.

Prices for both plywood from Douglas fir and plywood from other softwood, which had begun to decline in the previous quarter, fell throughout the first quarter.

Prices for sheet, strip and plate carbon steel have been increasing since December 2007. After falling the last two quarters of 2007 they jumped 8.3% in the first quarter of 2008 over the previous quarter.

The four largest year-over-year changes included one increase, metal roofing and siding (+7.9%), and three declines, they being plywood from Douglas fir (-7.8%), lumber, sawmill and other wood products (-7.7%) and plywood from other softwood (-7.1%).

The year-over-year change in the price of metal roofing and siding rose to +7.9% from its level of +7.5% in the third and fourth quarters of 2007. However, the actual price level of the commodity has shown little change since its increases of April and June of 2007.

The year-over-year change in the price of plywood from Douglas fir declined to -7.8% from -1.3% in the last quarter of 2007. Its last peak was +4.8% in the third quarter of 2007.

The year-over-year change in the price of lumber, sawmill and other wood products also declined to -7.7%, dropping from -4.1% in the last quarter of 2007. It had recovered to -1.6% in the third quarter of 2007. Since March 2007, the price level for the commodity has declined in nine of the twelve months. Lumber prices are suffering from the strong Canadian dollar and weak U.S. housing starts.

Similarly, the year-over-year change in the price of plywood from other softwood declined to -7.1% from -2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2007. Its last peak was +6.9% in the third quarter of 2007.

Construction Union Wage Rates Index

(See table 3)

In the first quarter of 2008 the Canada Total Construction Union Wage Rates Index (including supplements) remained unchanged at 140.3 (1992=100) compared with the revised previous quarter, and was 0.9% higher compared with the revised first quarter of 2007.

On a regional basis, the Atlantic Region, the Quebec Region, the Ontario Region, the Prairie Region and the British Columbia Region all remained unchanged from the previous quarter.

New Housing Price Index

(See table 5)

The New Housing Price Index (1997=100) rose 1.1% in the first quarter of 2008, up from the previous increase of 0.8%. Prices remained fairly stable across the country with the highest increases seen in the Atlantic Region (+2.4%), followed by Quebec (+1.7%), Ontario (+1.5%), British Columbia (+0.5%) and the Prairie Region (+0.2%).

Material and labour costs have contributed to increases in the Atlantic Region. St. John’s (+4.1%) had the largest increase followed by Halifax (+2.4%) , Charlottetown (+1.2%) and Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton (+0.6%).

In Quebec, both Québec City (+1.2%) and Montréal (+1.7%) registered increases. High demand, as well as higher material costs resulted in the price increase in Québec City. Strong market conditions, which allowed builders to increase list prices, coupled with higher materials and labor costs contributed to the price increase in Montréal.

Prices rose in all metropolitan areas surveyed in Ontario. Favourable market conditions, along with higher prices for labour, building materials and land were among the reasons for the increases. Ottawa-Gatineau (+2.0%), along with St. Catharines-Niagara (+2.0%), recorded the highest increase. This is followed by Hamilton (+1.7%) and Greater Sudbury and Thunder Bay (+1.7%). Toronto and Oshawa (+1.5%) contined to show price increases while Kitchener (+1.4%) turned positive after last quarter’s price decline. London (+0.9%) and Windsor (+0.6%) were among those with the lowest price gain.

In British Columbia, both Vancouver (+0.5%) and Victoria (+0.4%) saw increases. Although price advances remain in effect for both cities, Victoria only saw a moderate price rise due to competitive market conditions among builders while builders in Vancouver increased their lot prices as a result of stronger demand.

In the Prairie Region, Saskatoon (+9.1%) took the lead in price hikes followed by Regina (+5.6%), Winnipeg (+1.2%) and Calgary (+0.6%). The price increase is mainly caused by rising material and labor costs and strong market demand. Edmonton (-0.4%), however, experienced its first price decline since the fourth quarter of 2000 as a result of excess supply in the market.

Apartment Building Construction Price Index

(See table 6)

The composite price index for apartment building construction increased 2.2% from the fourth quarter of 2007 to 161.0 (1997=100) in the first quarter, up 7.8% from the first quarter of 2007. The quarterly increase was mostly the result of higher labour, materials and fuel costs.

Edmonton recorded the highest quarterly change (+3.3%), followed by Toronto and Ottawa–Gatineau, Ontario part (both +2.5%), Calgary (+2.3%), Vancouver (+2.1%), Montréal (+2.0%) and Halifax (+1.2%).

Edmonton also experienced the highest gain (+13.3%) from the first quarter of 2007, followed by Calgary (+11.0%), Vancouver (+9.8%), Toronto (+6.1%), Montreal (+5.8%), Ottawa–Gatineau, Ontario part (+5.6%) and Halifax (+3.8%).

Non-residential Building Construction Price Index

(See table 7)

The composite price index for non-residential building construction increased 2.6% in the first quarter to 165.7 (1997=100) compared with the previous quarter, and stood 8.7% higher compared with the first quarter of 2007. The quarterly increase was mostly the result of higher labour, materials and fuel costs.

Edmonton recorded the highest quarterly change (+3.5%), followed by Toronto and Ottawa–Gatineau, Ontario part (both +2.8%), Calgary (+2.6%), Montréal (+2.4%), Vancouver (+2.0%) and Halifax (+1.3%).

Edmonton also had the largest change (+13.4%) from the first quarter of 2007, followed by Calgary (+10.9%), Vancouver (+10.0%), Toronto (+7.2%), Ottawa–Gatineau, Ontario part (+6.6%), Montréal (+6.2%) and Halifax (+5.2%).

Machinery and Equipment Price Index

(See table 8)

The Machinery and Equipment Price Index (MEPI) stood at 85.2 (1997=100) in the first quarter, up 1.7% from the fourth quarter 2007. The import component index rose 2.8%, while the domestic index edged up 0.1%. Compared with the first quarter 2007, the total MEPI was down 8.6%, as the import index decreased 12.4%, while the domestic index fell 1.7%.

In the first quarter, all industries recorded increases in prices of machinery and equipment purchased. The manufacturing sector (+2.4%) contributed the most to the total MEPI quarterly increase. Among the sector's subcomponents, the largest contributors to the quarterly increase were transportation equipment manufacturing (+2.3%), primary metal and fabricated metal product manufacturing (+2.2%) and paper manufacturing (+2.0%). The second largest contributor to the total quarterly increase was other services, excluding public administration (+1.4%), with its sub-component, information and cultural industries, rising 1.2%.

Among commodities, price increases for construction machinery (+3.4%) and other industry specific machinery (+3.1%) were the largest contributors to the quarterly increase.

The US dollar increased 2.3% against its Canadian counterpart in the first quarter of 2008.

Electric Utility Construction Price Index

(See table 9)

Annual 2006 (final) and the annual 2007 (preliminary)

Construction costs for distribution systems increased 3.5% in 2007. The increase in the material component for this period (+6.5%) was the major contributor to this change. The final 2006 data for distribution systems represented an advance of 6.6% over 2005.

Construction costs for the transmission line system series rose 3.9% in 2007 compared with a 4.0% increase for all of 2006. The transmission line component climbed 2.9% during the same period in 2007, while in 2006 there was a 4.2% annual gain. The rise in prices of materials (+4.7%) significantly contributed to this increase. The substation component rose by 4.5% in 2007, following a 3.8% increase the previous year. The station equipment subcomponent posted the largest gain (+5.3%).

Consulting Engineering Services Price Index

(See table 10)

2006 (preliminary data)

The Consulting Engineering Services Price Index (CESPI) is now available for 2006. The CESPI measures the change in the total price of engineering and consulting services, as well as changes in the wage rate and realized net multiplier components. Detailed indexes are available for fields of specialization and for regional, domestic and foreign markets.

The Canada total CESPI for 2006 was 127.9 (1997=100), up 3.4% from the revised index of 123.7 for 2005.

Infrastructure Construction Price Index

An analytical price index series measuring annual changes in the cost of municipal infrastructure construction funded by development charges has been developed by Statistics Canada on behalf of the City of Ottawa. The annual index for 2007 was 124.7 (2001 =100), an increase of 4.4% over the annual index of 119.5 for 2006. The annual indexes for 2005, 2004, 2003 and 2002 were 112.8, 107.7, 105.1 and 102.2 respectively as previously published.