CHICAGO, Nov. 28, 2023 – After a year of stabilization, the construction industry in the U.S. and Canada is positioned for success in 2024, thanks to strong demand and as the normalization of supply chains and material prices continue. JLL’s new U.S. and Canada Construction Trends 2024 forecast explores the opportunities and challenges facing the construction industry in the year to come.

“The industry is ready to successfully meet the challenges of 2024,” said Todd Burns, President, Project and Development Services, Americas, JLL. “With immense housing needs, return to office strengthening and federally backed infrastructure and manufacturing accelerating, the industry is poised for growth despite challenges.”

In the U.S., limited labor availability is expected to persist for the long term. Due to ongoing labor shortages and an increase in people leaving the industry, overall growth of the construction labor force will slow from its current, already inadequate, pace in 2024. While advancements in technologies can ease some of these pressure points caused by the labor market, it cannot fully replace the need for labor.

In both the U.S. and Canada, as the industry faces skilled labor shortages and falling productivity – competency and efficiency will be increasingly valuable among the workforce. Retention, upskilling and trust building are critical for the next year and beyond.

“Looking forward, success requires building durable partnerships with those who have not only the required technical ability, but also the soft skills necessary for problem-solving and innovation in the face of uncertainty,” added Ramsay.

“With cost pressures easing on the materials side, most of the current cost inflation can be attributed to rising wages,” said Scott Figler, National Research Director, Canada, JLL. “Canada’s construction wages were generally up by 5% to 7% from 2022 to 2023 and we expect high wage growth to continue well into 2024 at around 4% to 6%.”