The Hidden Delay in Housing Supply - Speeding Up Construction Times

While city approval processes often take the heat for Canada's housing supply woes, construction project durations are quietly but significantly increasing. CMHC data reveals that single-detached homes took an average of 10.7 months to complete in 2023, a jump of roughly 17% or 1.8 months from the 10-year average. CMHC’s Housing Supply Reports note that multi-unit construction (e.g., apartments) faced growing backlogs post-pandemic, with completion times lengthening. Multi-unit construction (apartment projects) shows a smaller absolute delay (1.5 months vs. 1.8 months) and a smaller relative increase (7% vs. 17%).

Elements that are contributing to this slowdown include:

Excessive meetings, risk aversion, and redundant processes are bogging down on-site production.
Regulatory changes and labor market dynamics further complicate timelines, challenges that Horizon Contracting Group directly addresses through efficient, client-focused solutions.
Recent supply chain challenges and climate-affected scheduling disrupt project timelines.
Environmental and technological factors contribute to evolving construction dynamics.

The Growing Challenge of Construction Durations: A Horizon Perspective

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) estimates a need for 3.5 million additional units by 2030 to restore affordability in Canada. While bureaucratic delays are a well-known obstacle, the increasing duration of construction projects represents a critical, yet often underestimated, impediment to boosting housing supply.

The urgency for housing is undeniable, yet construction timelines are expanding. At Horizon Contracting Group, we see that preconstruction phases are often bogged down by repeated cycles of budgeting, redesigning, and tendering, leading to delayed project starts. Once construction is underway, projects can face setbacks from excessive meetings, risk aversion, and scope gaps, reducing actual building time and inflating overall costs.

On-Site Bottlenecks: A Closer Look

Internal practices are a major contributor to construction delays. Supervisors, traditionally focused on leading crews and driving production, now they spend a significant amount of time as liaisons between various stakeholders, which can leave teams without direct oversight. This shift, combined with excessive orientations, endless pull planning, and frequent site meetings, reduces morale and production.

Horizon Contracting Group recognizes that while these processes were initially intended to enhance safety and productivity, they have become overly redundant, diverting attention from the core task of construction. Statistics Canada data confirms that construction productivity has lagged behind other sectors, partly due to such inefficiencies.

Recent data highlights broader influences on construction durations:

Supply Chain Challenges: Global disruptions affect the timely delivery of key materials like steel and lumber, leading to project delays and increased costs.

Climate Considerations: Unpredictable weather patterns, requiring more robust scheduling to mitigate the effects of adverse conditions on construction timelines.

Environmental Regulations: New mandates for sustainable building practices lengthen the planning stages as builders adapt designs and materials to meet these requirements.

Technological Adoption Barriers: While digital tools offer efficiencies, slower adoption rates among smaller firms can prolong timelines due to outdated practices.

Demographic Shifts and Demand Variability: Urban centers experience higher demand, which can pressure timelines and resources, while rural areas face different dynamics impacting scheduling and resources.

Horizon Contractors Working on Construction

Horizon's Approach: Streamlining for Success

At Horizon Contracting Group, we believe in cutting through the complexity to deliver results. Rather than adding more layers of bureaucracy, we advocate for streamlining inefficiencies. Our practical steps include:

Optimizing Communication: Limit meetings to essential discussions, create working project schedules, and ensure supervisors remain actively engaged on-site to maximize crew output.
Simplifying Planning: Own your scope, plan and prioritize critical tasks, reduce inefficiencies where possible, and maintain strong resource allocation.
Leveraging Technology: Embrace digital project management tools to streamline communication, documentation, and real-time data sharing, as highlighted in CMHC's capacity analysis.
Focusing on Mentorship: Empower experienced field leaders to effectively guide crews, balancing safety and productivity, while limiting bureaucracy.

These strategies align with Horizon's commitment to delivering projects efficiently, ensuring quality without unnecessary delays. We understand that every project is unique, and we tailor our approach to meet the specific needs of our clients.

Conclusion

Canada's housing supply crisis isn't solely about approvals—construction durations represent a significant bottleneck. With projects slowed by internal inefficiencies, regulatory shifts, supply chain disruptions, climate challenges, and labor dynamics, the industry must adapt. Horizon Contracting Group is committed to streamlining site processes to accelerate our delivery in the years to come.