Residential construction in Quebec has best year since 2014 despite pandemic

MONTREAL -- Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Quebec has had a good year in terms of residential construction starts, the best since 2004. 

The Association of Quebec Construction and Housing Professionals (APCHQ) said that the number of housing starts reached 54,006 in 2020, an increase of 13 per cent compared to 2019.

This is all the more surprising given that the construction sites were closed from March 24 to April 19, 2020, then partially until May 11, because of the novel coronavirus.

The construction of collective housing, namely condominiums, semi-detached houses and townhouses, represents 80 per cent of new construction.

The director of the economic department at the APCHQ Paul Cardinal said he was "surprised" at the results, which go beyond simple catching up due to sites being temporarily closed.

"This is the best year since 2004," he said pointing out that some regions have stood out particularly, such as Sherbrooke and Saguenay.

-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 20, 2021.