Building permits fell 18.6 per cent in value in the Northwest Territories in 2022.
There was $77.3 million worth of construction last year compared to $95 million in 2021.
Residential construction, at $56.3 million, made up the bulk of activity last year. The next most valuable permits were commercial builds at $13.9 million. Institutional and governmental construction came next at $5.6 million. Industrial projects represented a meagre $1.5 million.
Although the value of construction permits fell, the industry represented 7.52 per cent of the NWT’s gross domestic product in 2022, an increase from 6.46 per cent the previous year.
Heavy lifts
Among the major projects on the go in 2023-24, the Inuvik Airport runway extension will get $20 million from the territorial government.
Pre-construction of the Taltson expansion initiative has $6.8 million in funds set aside.
Tuktoyaktuk’s Mangilaluk School is undergoing a $30-million renovation and major addition that will increase the educational facility’s floor space to 42,130 square feet from 28,223 square feet. When the Inuvialuit Development Corporation completes the work in 2024, the school will boast a new 5,748-square-foot gymnasium and a standalone career and technology studies (CTS) building. A library, kitchen, culture room and high school lounge are also being installed.
In Yellowknife, Clark Builders, the contractor whose bid was chosen by the municipal government, has moved into year two of construction of a $67.7-million, 61,580-square-foot aquatic centre, which is projected to open in September 2024.
Housing builds, fixes
Housing NWT has a budget of $35.6 million to build a few dozen new units and retrofit scores of others in 2023-24. The agency accounts for 10.8 per cent of the territorial government’s 2023-24 capital budget, putting it just behind Health and Social Services (11 per cent) and Infrastructure (59.5 per cent) as the top three departments for capital expenditures.
The cost to building a housing unit in the NWT ranges from approximately $400,000 to $1 million.
Labour shortage
The GNWT has identified labour shortages in “key NWT industries” as an obstacle. Those industries are construction, health care and education.
In the legislative assembly in February, the minister of Education, Culture and Employment said work was underway to find other government departments that would take on more apprentices through the Schools North Apprenticeship Program (SNAP), which had only 24 students and 14 apprentices, primarily in the North Slave region. Private employers, particularly smaller ones, can encounter difficulty taking on apprentices, the minister acknowledged, so broadening efforts within the government is part of the plan.
For more stories from Opportunities North 2023, click this link: https://www.nnsl.com/special-feature-publications/opportunities-north-2023/