Posted Apr 12, 2011, 11:49 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Calgary
Posts: 329
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Quote:
Bricks, mortar . . . and jobs
Home-building industry major employer, study finds
By JOANN ALBERSTAT Business Reporter
Nova Scotia’s home-building industry is second only to tourism in job creation, says a new industry-funded report.
The Nova Scotia Home Builders’ Association recently released a study that says residential construction directly and indirectly employed 27,200 people in 2010. Only tourism employed more people, with 31,700 jobs, the study said. Fishing and other food manufacturing were third, with almost 19,000 jobs.
"We knew we were big," Paul Pettipas, the association’s chief executive officer, said in an interview Monday. "We didn’t think we were this big. That was a very pleasant surprise."
The residential sector, which accounts for almost 41 per cent of total construction activity in the province, includes new homes and renovations. Renovations make up 58.5 per cent of the residential category.
The study, which cost the association about $20,000, was done by Canmac Economics Ltd. of Lower Sackville.
The consultants also found that residential construction directly and indirectly generated $1.5 billion in provincial gross domestic product last year. Fishing and other food manufacturing were worth $1.3 billion in GDP and tourism, $1.1 billion.
Housing construction-related industries include finance, insurance, real estate, retail and wholesale trade, and professional and technical services.
Pettipas said his group plans to do a similar study annually and use the findings to lobby government on various issues, including lower taxes and fees.
Twenty per cent of the price of a new home in Halifax Regional Municipality is fees, taxes and charges, he said.
"If the government again brings in something like the two per cent HST, we can show them year over year that it does have an effect.
"When they upped that HST, on a cup of coffee, it means very little. On a $300,000 home, that’s $6,000. It has a tremendous implication to our industry."
The study also said taxes on home construction contributed $159.2 million to federal coffers and $160 million in provincial revenues.
Pettipas said the figure would be much higher if the government did more to root out black market construction activity.
"What we can say to government now, with real certainty, is you’re losing out on about $200 million worth of labour that’s being done with no taxes paid, with no workmen’s compensation, with no liability insurance."
The report said residential construction generates $640 million in direct household income. Other studies have shown at least one-third of construction work is done in the underground economy, Pettipas said.
The findings will also help the Nova Scotia Community College market its construction training programs, he said.
The industry’s annual average salary was $39,000 in 2009, the study found. The province average that year was about $36,800.
As for the industry this year, Pettipas said he expects residential construction will remain flat as government stimulus programs end and are replaced by spending restraint.
"I think it is going to be a challenging year. I think if we get through this, toward the end, we’re going to see more positives toward the end of this year and then more into 2012."
New residential construction in Halifax saw little change in March compared with a year earlier, according to preliminary data released recently by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
Single-detached starts fell to 74 units from 81 in March 2010, while multiple-unit starts rose to 38 from 30 a year ago.
Builders also broke ground on 325 apartment-style rental units last month, representing the largest first-quarter total in 20 years, CMHC said.
( [email protected])
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now if only more of this took place in the DT as I assume most of this takes place in dartmouth or between Halifax and Bedford.
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