Canadian commercial construction starts are anticipated to be slightly down this year at 4.4 million m² (47 million sf). CanaData's Summer 2008 summary of the commercial construction outlook prediction marks a decline from last year's 5.2 million m² (55.6 million sf). In 2009, starts are expected to shrink further, reaching 3.8 million m² (41 million sf), but bounce up marginally to 3.9 million m² (42 million sf) in 2010.

In the office building market, vacancy rates are low in most major centres across the nation; rents are also higher, especially on the West Coast. However, only Calgary and Toronto are enjoying a significant amount of new office building construction due to these trends.

The retail building market may also be impacted from weakness in the manufacturing sector due to the strong Canadian dollar. Capacity utilization rates plummeted, with manufacturing dropping below 80 per cent. Also noteworthy is retail activity's link to the residential market—as housing starts are predicted to drop in 2008, reduced spending on products such as home appliances, new carpets, and renovation tools may be expected.

Slightly more positive in the commercial category, hotel and motel construction starts are greater than in 2007. However, hospitality starts are not as active as they should be at this stage of the economic cycle. This relative sluggishness may be attributed to the reduction in American tourism due to a slew of factors such as border crossing delays and the indefinitely increasing price of gas.