Construction/ Deve lopment
Edmonton is riding a tidal wave of large construction projects right now, said John McNicoll, executive director of the Edmonton Construction Association.
“There’s $8 billion worth of projects being built right now … and that is all going ahead,” McNicoll said.
“There will be a slowdown in the industrial zone for sure, but in commercial construction, which impacts Edmonton more … generally, there’s two years of commitment. Those building projects are already confirmed and based on long-term projections.”
Paul Douglas, CEO of Edmonton-based PCL, Canada’s largest construction company, says oil’s steep slide hasn’t affected it yet and the company is trying to get a handle on its future impact.
“Normally things do slow down in Alberta when that happens,” Douglas said. “So this has now just been happening and at the same time we’ve been signing some fairly sizable contracts, so I don’t think it’s going to have a big impact on us in 2015. Our projections for new work and billings for 2015 are still strong and then it will depend on how long this lasts.”
Douglas said some projections call for the price to remain relatively low for a few years.
“What we do know is they can’t predict oil from one month to the next, so if anyone really thinks that it’s going to carry on steady at $65 for two or three years, I’d bet against it. I was worried (in the fall) that every chief economist agreed it would be at $85 to $90 for the next few years and that it was going to be stable. Despite all their research and analytics and everything, within months we’re down below $65 and now everyone is saying it will be at $65 for the next couple of years.
“There’s just so many variables that oil goes up or down with, and all these things that are way outside of our control that nobody seems to be able to analyze.
“So I’ve learned not to lose sleep over anything I don’t control.” dhowell@edmontonjournal.com bmah@edmontonjournal. com With files from Gary Lamphier and Elise Stolte