Canada Construction Projects Update | June 2024

It’s not always the case that the largest projects under construction in Canada are guaranteed to offer the best employment or career opportunities.  However, it is useful to use this pipeline of work to assess the health of the construction industry, if you live and work in Canada or are considering moving to Canada to get a construction job there.  A buoyant building/civil engineering/rail market will ensure that you have multiple options regarding who you can choose to work for and allow you to be confident that you are choosing to make your home and build your career in a place that can offer you great opportunities to be settled and prosperous.

So here follows a summary of some of the largest and most interesting active construction projects in Canada that are offering great current and future career opportunities as at June 2024.

GO Expansion – On Corridor Works Toronto / Hamilton Region in Ontario, Canada
Estimated Project Value CAD$15,700,000,000 (cGBP£9,000,000,000)
Completion Date Estimate: 2032

This project has featured in all the ‘big project’ lists in Canada for over 4 years and is finally moving towards full commencement of construction works on site.  2022 saw the client’s project management consortium awarded and the project development phase started in earnest.  High level design works are now nearly complete relating to signalling, overhead electrification and station works. Early construction works are now underway, and award of construction contracts is expected in early 2025.  Many contracting organisations are now allocating time, resources and recruiting staff to handle tenders and pre-contract related work to plan for mobilisation.  The Maxim Recruitment team in both Toronto and the UK are working with a number of consultants as well as main contractors and subcontractors to provide candidates for interview and employment right now.

Eglinton Crosstown LRT. Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Estimated Project Value CAD$12,500,000,000 (cGBP£7,000.000,000)
Completion Date Estimate: 2024 / ECWE to December 2025

This core scope of this project has been running for years and despite major cost and time overruns, it is expected to finish in 2024.  However, the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension (ECWE) has recently been awarded and is already underway, due to be completed around December 2025.  Tunnelling is underway and at the time of writing is running ahead of schedule.  There are opportunities for tunnelling specialists, programme managers, contract administrators etc with a variety of main contractor and subcontractor organisations on the project.

Ontario Line. Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Estimated Project Value CAD$10,900,000,000 (cGBP£6,200,000,000)
Completion Date Estimate: 2031

Construction is underway and P3 contracts have been awarded as have civils, stations, tunnel and rolling stock contracts.  Exciting career opportunities for all professional construction skill sets are available now.

Hazel McCallion / Hurontario LRT (Extension)
Estimated Project Value: CAD$4,600,000,000 (cGBP£2,500,000,000)
Start Date: February 2024

This project has featured in ‘major project’ lists for over a decade, but the extension to the main works has now been awarded, comprising 18km of track, 19 additional stops and this now offers some great career opportunities to construction professionals within engineering, project management, planning/programming, estimating, cost & contract management etc.

Green Line LRT. Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Estimated Project Value: CAD$4,900,000,000 (cGBP£ c£2,800,000,000)
Completion Date Estimate: 2027

This is the first project in this list that is outside of the Toronto / Ontario area.  The Calgary Green line is now a 28 station / 46km LRT project.  It has been extensively delayed in recent years due to funding related issues and scope/design changes, but it appears finally to be going live to implementation on site during 2024.  The team at Maxim are exited to be working with a number of specialist consultancies on the project and would welcome expressions of interest for both local and international professional construction candidates excited to join the project either based in or around Calgary or coming from elsewhere in Canada or elsewhere in the world. 

Surrey Langley SkyTrain Project
Estimated Project Value: CAD$4,000,000,000 (GBP£2,300,000,000)
Completion Date Estimate: 2028

This is a good example of a number of major rail / light rail / transportations underway in Vancouver, British Columbia on the west coast of Canada. 8 new stations, 16km long.  Advance works are well underway and the project is to be let in three major sections; the guideway, the stations and a contract for the design and installation of SkyTrain systems and trackwork.  The stations contract has now been awarded and a shortlist of consortia are awaiting award of the other key sections of work.  As you would expect, Maxim is positioned with most of the consortia and are working as needed to supply premium construction professionals.

 There are a range of other projects that could be mentioned, from major hydro-electric/clean energy projects, nuclear power projects, water treatment plants, projects in Quebec, major bridge and tunnel projects across the country as well as major new hospital and medical related projects.  The condo/housing/property market across Canada, while less busy than previous years, is steady and still offers a range of good job opportunities – and the property market is only expected to improve going into 2025.

It is worth noting that the large construction projects always have ‘keynote’ large company names as headline key proponents.  Some of the best job roles (in terms of both salary, scope of responsibilities and potential for career progression) can often be found with the sub-consultants, subcontractors or specialist companies working ‘behind the scenes’ on these projects – right from early design and procurement right through construction into final account and project close out.  Maxim Recruitment has been working extensively in Canada, in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and other cities since 2018 and we are ‘in the know’ about this and have direct access to a large number of these roles and employers.

We are experts in managerial technical construction recruitment in Canada, UK, Asia, Australia, the Middle East and around the world – please get in touch if you would like to work with us.

Steve Thomas
Construction Recruitment Director, UK & Canada
Maxim Recruitment
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Steve is responsible for Maxim Recruitment in the UK and Canada. He is based in the Maxim head office in Leicester, UK and the Toronto office in Canada. He regularly travels to meet employers and job seekers and attend construction industry networking events in the UK, Canada and worldwide. Steve has over 25 years of experience in construction and property recruitment and enjoys working with many repeat clients. He manages dedicated search and headhunting assignments for a range of premium UK, Canadian and international clients.