Toronto has more cranes than any city in North America

Cranes have almost become part of the Toronto skyline at this point — you see them just about everywhere you look.

And, as it turns out, not only does Toronto have significantly more cranes than any other city in North America, but that number is continuing to grow.

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A recent report from international property and construction consultancy firm Rider Levit Bucknall (RLB) measured the number of cranes in 14 major cities in North America. Toronto came out on top, with a 12% increase in the number of cranes in the past year. Toronto has continued to lead the crane count since 2015. That’s despite the fact that completed projects took away 18 cranes from the previous survey.

The increase is mostly in the commercial sector (which added another 18 cranes) and the residential and mixed-use projects (which added seven cranes).

Other cities that have seen an increase include San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, and New York. The number of cranes in Calgary has remained steady.

According to the report, projects are still fraught with supply chain issues as demand for building supplies grows. The rising fuel cost is also a factor, with truck drivers “slowing overland transit of goods, a condition exacerbated by lack of warehouse space.”

Sourcing materials has also been impacted by the Russian-Ukraine war as Russia is a major producer of copper and aluminum.

“It’s a complicated situation,” said Julian Anderson, FRICS, President of RLB North America.