Every year this guide provides a comprehensive snapshot of construction costs in local markets across Canada, broken down by building type. This data has proven very useful; however, if improperly applied, it can result in a budget and forecast that is off by hundreds of thousands, and in some cases, millions of dollars. To avoid any inaccuracies, there are two recommended ways to use this guide:

• Preparing a high-level estimate during the pre-planning stage, when you are working exclusively off building floor areas.

• As a benchmark in the later stages of pre-construction planning, to compare your detailed project estimate with the industry.

If you are in the pre-planning stage and know your floor areas, you can use the guide to prepare a high-level estimate. Using the Private Sector Price per Square Foot data for 2024, it’s relatively simple, as illustrated in this example.

That said, even for a high-level estimate, you should also be accounting for construction cost escalation between the date of this guide (January 2024) and your project’s construction start date. When establishing your cost escalation rate, be sure to consider factors that may influence the rate of change, such as your region and your asset type.

If you are further into the planning phase of your project and able to obtain specific measurements of building elements, beyond just floor areas, you can prepare a more detailed estimate and use the guide to benchmark that estimate.

This point is reached earlier in the project than you may realize, and even with preliminary concept drawings you are able to measure elemental quantities and estimate your construction costs with a lower margin of error than is possible with a simple cost per square foot estimate. The conceptual drawings provide you with critical information about the building characteristics which can have a significant impact on the cost, including the building’s shape, height, footprint, and characteristics of the below-grade structure.

For example, you can leverage this information to estimate façade costs, and base them on a façade quantity measured specifically for your building’s shape and height.