Cost of infrastructure work in London rising twice as fast as Toronto [Video]

Statistics Canada’s latest reporting of non-residential construction prices in London indicates that the cost of infrastructure projects rose 6.6 per cent year-over-year in Q3 of 2024.

Only recently was London added to the list of Canadian cities included in the monitoring of Non-Residential Construction Price Index (NRCPI), previously city hall used Toronto’s figure for local budget projections.

“Over the course of the past year, [the NRCPI] for London has been 6.6 per cent, which is in fact, much, much higher than even Toronto and Ottawa,” Kyle Murray, Director of Financial Planning and Business Support told city council during recent budget deliberations.

Over the same period Toronto’s NRCPI rose 3.3 per cent.

The soaring cost of infrastructure projects has already impacted several mega-projects in London with budget overruns and delayed starts.

The Adelaide Street Rail Underpass cost $29.3 million more than its original budget, the most recent estimate to replace and …