“We said that 2022 was going be a challenging year for ongoing labour constraints. I don’t think anyone quite anticipated the quantum of interest hikes that came about in 2022 but we definitely thought last year that the industry would be buoyant and that proved to be the case,” said Darren Cash, director of cost management with Turner & Townsend.
“We’re expecting it to be still a fairly buoyant industry,” he added. “Spending should continue, assuming we don’t have more significant interest rate hikes. I think the Bank of Canada have indicated that they’re going put a pause on it for a period of time, which they haven’t defined.”, provides an overall market analysis and sector insights.
“Commercial office space is still in a state of flux,” said Cash. “Some are saying, ‘you can work remote for the rest of your life if you want to.’ Other industries are saying, ‘no, we need that collaboration. We need that at least two, three days a week,’ so the real estate strategies of the big pension funds, big banks remains in a state of flux.”