The average value of the B.C.’s largest construction starts fell for the second year in a row after peaking in 2019 when the $36 billion LNG Canada project topped the rankings, according to data collected on Business in Vancouver’s Biggest B.C. Construction Starts in 2021 list (https://biv.com/lists).
Over the past two years, the average value of project starts fell 84 per cent from $2.97 billion in 2019 to $472.9 million in 2021, including a 28.3 per cent decline over the previous year. The steep reduction in average value comes after a 1,403 per cent spike in 2019 from $197.5 million the year before.
While the average value has crashed, the median value of B.C. construction starts grew 61.7 per cent over the past two years, to $161 million in 2021 from $100 million in 2019.
This suggests that while the size of bigger projects higher on list has declined – largely the result of LNG Canada – smaller projects lower on the list have grown.
Even though the No. 1 project on the most recent BIV list – the $2.38 billion Broadway Subway - was significantly smaller than the largest project in the previous year, smaller projects on the list grew enough to increase the median value of the province’s largest construction starts in 2021. •
