Construction industry booming.

• Author: NELSON, KATHERINE THOMPSON
• Position: Brief Article - Industry Overview - Statistical Data Included

The construction climate in Sudbury is looking brighter today than it has in the last few years, but industry players are saying there is still room for improvement.

The new housing market is stronger this year than in recent years, says J.P. Max, president of the Sudbury and District Home Builders' Association and president of J.P. Max Construction.

Max speculates the new housing market is stronger due to improved employment opportunities in the Sudbury area.

"(J.P Max Construction) is working more for sure this past year (than in previous years)," Max says.

The firm has five new homes currently under construction and could have five to 10 houses completed this year, he adds.

Although the current climate is good, things could be better. New home construction and renovation work is likely the best it has been in five years, Max says, but the construction industry in Sudbury, "is coming off several bad years, so there is still room for improvement.

"Most sub-trades are fairly busy," Max says. "We're all scrambling to get this stuff up while the summer's here. We haven't had that problem for the past few years."

Chantal Benoit, Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. market analyst for Sudbury, says single-family home construction in the area is experiencing slight growth over last year, and she believes it will probably continue into 2002.

According to Ontario Home Builders' Association statistics, each single family dwelling erected creates the equivalent of 2.8 full-time jobs for a year.

To date, there have been 100 housing starts in 2001, compared to 73 for same period last year. Benoit says it would appear that Sudbury is a little stronger than the rest of northeastern Ontario, but it is not a significant amount.

In addition to housing starts in the city being up 37 per cent over last year, several large commercial projects are either currently underway or slated to begin construction within the next year.

Construction is continuing on Phase 1, the south tower, of the Sudbury Regional Hospital. However, the hospital board has made the decision to slow down the work because it was not willing to proceed without Ministry of Health approval for the new co-estimate, says Sudbury Regional Hospital corporate director of communications Viviane Lapointe.

Although the cost of the hospital's construction was initially estimated at $143 million, escalating costs have pushed the most recent estimate for the new hospital to $209 million.

The ministry is...