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Industrial Product Price Index, Selected Construction Materials Series

(See table 2)

In the second quarter of 2008, the four largest quarterly price changes amongst the most important commodities used in construction were the three increases for concrete reinforcing bars, (+20.6%), structural steel shapes (+11.1%) and concrete brick and building blocks (+2.8%) and the decrease for particle-board and wafer-board (-2.6%).

Prices for concrete reinforcing bars began with a strong increase in April, slowed in May, and remained unchanged in June. They had begun increasing in February after eight months of declines.

The price level for structural steel shapes, moved up sharply in April, but only edged higher in May and June. Iron and steel scrap, which is of some importance as input into the production of the steel used for structural steel shapes, saw an extremely sharp increase in April followed by little changed in May and a small decline in June.

The price of insulated concrete brick and building blocks increased in April and remained stable over the next two months. Prices for particle-board and wafer-board fell sharply in April but more than recovered over May and June.

The four largest year-over-year changes included two increases: concrete reinforcing bars (+15.2%) and structural steel shapes (+11.8%) and two declines: lath and plaster gypsum wall board (-9.6%) and insulated wire and cable, not exceeding 1000 volts (-9.5%).

The year-over-year change in the price of concrete reinforcing bars rose sharply to 15.2% from 6.9% in the first quarter of the year.

The year-over-year change in the price of structural steel shapes rose to +11.8% in the second quarter from its level of +3.1% in the first quarter. It had been fallen to a low of -2.5% in the last quarter of 2007.

The year-over-year decline in the price of lath and plaster gypsum wall board worsened to -9.6% from -6.3% in the first quarter, -4.6% in the last quarter of 2007 and no change in the third quarter of that year.

The year-over-year decline in the price of insulated wire and cable, not exceeding 1000 volts steepened to -9.5% from -6.9% in the first quarter. The 4-quarter price change turned negative in the second quarter of 2007 and remained so thereafter. It was -10.4% in the third quarter of last year and -8.7% in its fourth quarter. However, despite the worsening of the year-over-year change, the price level itself remained constant throughout April May and June.

Construction Union Wage Rates Index

(See table 3)

In the second quarter of 2008 the Canada Total Construction Union Wage Rates Index (including supplements) increased 0.1% to 141.9 (1992=100) compared with the previous quarter, and was 0.5% higher compared with the second quarter of 2007.

On a regional basis, the Atlantic Region registered the highest quarterly change (+1.8%) followed by the British Columbia Region (+0.5%). The Quebec Region, the Ontario Region and the Prairie Region all remained unchanged from the previous quarter.

New Housing Price Index

(See table 5)

The New Housing Price Index (1997=100) rose 0.3% in the second quarter of 2008, down from the previous increase of 1.1%. Increases were seen in the Atlantic Region (+3.0%), followed by Quebec (+1.4%), Ontario (+0.6%) and British Columbia (+0.2%). The Prairie Region registered a decrease (-1.3%). This was the first decrease reported since the first quarter of 1996 for this region.

Material and labour costs along with increased land prices contributed to increases in the Atlantic Region. St. John’s (+8.2%) had the largest increase followed by Halifax (+1.2%) and Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton (+0.2%). However, Charlottetown registered a decrease (-0.6%) attributed to competitive market conditions.

In Quebec, both Québec City (+1.5%) and Montréal (+1.4%) registered increases. High demand, as well as higher material and land costs resulted in the price increase in Québec City. Strong market conditions, which allowed builders to increase list prices, coupled with higher materials and labour costs contributed to the price increase in Montréal.

Prices rose in all metropolitan areas surveyed in Ontario. Higher prices for labour, building materials and land were among the reasons for the increases. St. Catharines-Niagara (+1.8%), along with Greater Sudbury and Thunder Bay (+1.7%) and London (+1.4%) recorded the highest increases. This was followed by Ottawa-Gatineau (+1.1%), Hamilton (+0.6%) and Kitchener (+0.6%). Toronto and Oshawa (+0.4%) and Windsor (+0.3%) registered the smallest price increases in Ontario.

In British Columbia, Vancouver (+0.3%) registered an increase as some builders reported increased lot values while Victoria (-0.7%) recorded a decrease that builders attributed to competitive market conditions.

In the Prairie Region, Edmonton (-3.1%), along with Calgary (-1.1%) posted decreases which were generally attributed to softing market conditions due at least in part to excess supply in the market. Increases were reported in Regina (+11.8%) followed by Saskatoon (+2.6%) and Winnipeg (+2.4%). The price increases were mainly caused by rising material, labour and land costs along with good market demand.

Apartment Building Construction Price Index

(See table 6)

The composite price index for apartment building construction increased 3.9% from the first quarter of 2008 to 167.2 (1997=100) in the second quarter, up 8.5% compared with the second quarter of 2007. The quarterly increase was mostly the result of several factors, including higher material prices, in particular steel, and increases in labour and fuel costs.

Calgary recorded the highest quarterly change (+6.8%), followed by Edmonton (+5.5%), Toronto (+4.4%), Ottawa–Gatineau, Ontario part (+3.7%), Vancouver (+3.3%), Halifax (+2.5%) and Montréal (+2.0%).

Edmonton had the largest increase (+13.6%) from the second quarter of 2007, followed by Calgary (+13.4%), Vancouver (+8.9%), Toronto (+8.3%), Ottawa–Gatineau, Ontario part (+7.2%), Montréal (+5.2%) and Halifax (+4.4%).

Non-residential Building Construction Price Index

(See table 7)

The composite price index for non-residential building construction increased 6.0% in the second quarter to 175.6 (1997=100) compared with the previous quarter, and stood 11.6% higher compared with the second quarter of 2007. The quarterly increase was mostly the result of higher labour and fuel costs, as well as material price increases, in particular steel.

Calgary recorded the highest quarterly change (+8.7%), followed by Edmonton (+6.5%), Toronto (+5.8%), Vancouver and Ottawa–Gatineau, Ontario part (both +4.9%), Halifax (+3.2%) and Montréal (+2.4%).

Calgary also had the largest change (+16.1%) from the second quarter of 2007, followed by Edmonton (+15.4%), Vancouver (+11.2%), Toronto (+10.3%), Ottawa–Gatineau, Ontario part (+8.9%), Montréal (+6.1%) and Halifax (+5.8%).

Machinery and Equipment Price Index

(See table 8)

The Machinery and Equipment Price Index (MEPI) stood at 86.2 (1997=100) in the second quarter, up 0.8% from the previous quarter. The import component index rose 1.3%, while the domestic index edged up 0.1%. Compared with the second quarter of 2007, the total MEPI was down 3.5%, as the import index decreased 5.5% while the domestic index fell 0.2%.

All industries recorded increases in prices of machinery and equipment purchased in the second quarter. The manufacturing sector (+1.4%) 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 (+1.6%), paper manufacturing (+1.7%) and primary metal and fabricated metal product manufacturing (+1.5%). The second largest contributor to the total quarterly increase was mines, quarries and oil wells (+1.8%).

Among commodities, price increases for other industry specific machinery (+1.4%) and mining and oil and gas field machinery (+2.8%) were the largest contributors to the quarterly increase.

The US dollar increased 0.59% against its Canadian counterpart in the second quarter of 2008.

Electric Utility Construction Price Index

(See table 9)

Annual 2007 (revised) and the first half 2008 (preliminary)

Construction costs for distribution systems increased by 2.7% during the first half of 2008. The increase in the labour and the construction indirects components for this period were the major contributors to this change. Costs for distribution systems in 2007 increased 4.4% over 2006.

Construction costs for the transmission line system series rose 2.8% during the first half of 2008 compared with a 4.7% increase for all of 2007. The transmission line component climbed 3.4% during the same period in 2008, while in 2007 there was a 3.9% annual gain. The substation component rose by 2.4% in the first half of 2008, following a 5.1% increase in 2007, with the construction indirects (+6.4%) posting the largest gain.

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.