The conversation surrounding the construction climate in Toronto and the GTA isn’t a simple one, with the hot-topic of tariffs only one part of an ever-evolving situation.

“The message I think is…that it’s infinitely more complicated than just being about tariffs and interest rates,” says John Mollenhauer, president and CEO of the Toronto Construction Association (TCA), adding he advises the industry to “be careful not to be undercapitalized. Be careful to put a little bit away when you can.

“We aren’t, as an industry, an exporter for the most part, so if there’s a tariff in the U.S. on goods sourced outside the U.S., specifically in Canada, then that has relatively little impact on an industry that doesn’t really export,” he adds. “But, because retaliatory counter measures are necessary, and they are necessary…it’s those that have the impact. So, things we source in the U.S. that we bring to Canada will now cost more. We don’t know exactly know how much more.”

Mollenhauer provided an overview of the Toronto and area construction economy to the Daily Commercial News following the TCA’s recent AGM and awards event, which featured Niall Finnegan, a partner at Finnegan Marshall as the keynote speaker.

He said while recent news of steel and aluminum tariffs is definitely cause for concern, “there’s a long list of things that are more vulnerable than other things and even that changes daily. The impact, however, to cost on, for example, a highrise condo, which is 59 per cent of our market, or was until the condo market collapsed…the impact is in the order of three per cent.