As of the beginning of April, 2024, 324 cranes towered over the skies of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), according to UrbanToronto's tracking of construction projects. This represents a slight, but persistent, downward trend of both the previous quarter, and the same month last year. The stickiness of high interest rates, along with subdued demand, are plausible sources for this persistence. 

Historical chart of cranes in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, October 2021 to April 2024. Data from UTPro.

Of 386 projects currently under construction, UrbanToronto counts 213 across the six regions of the GTHA with at least one crane. Of these areas, the City of Toronto has by far the most with 127, followed by Peel region with 24, and York region with 19. This represents a decline from the 238 projects we reported in our first crane count report in October of 2023. 

Map of the regions of the GTHA, and the number of cranes within each. As of the beginning of Q2 of 2024. Data from UTPro.

In terms of the total number of cranes in each region, Toronto leads with 183, followed by Peel region with 41. This represents a slight decline for both regions since our October 2023 report, both by about 7.5%. 

Pie chart for the total number of cranes by region, as of the beginning of Q2 2024. Data from UTPro.

Altogether, the cranes are constructing a total of 62,363 dwelling units, and more than 55 million ft² of commercial floor area. Moreover, 125 projects in the GTHA have one crane, while 69 have two, 15 have three, and only 4 have four or more cranes. 

Summary table of GTHA projects with cranes as of the beginning of Q2 2024. Data from UTPro.

We'll be back again soon with the changes over the upcoming months, but in the meantime, you can always keep-up-date on the situation though our cranes thread where you can track the cranes at every project in the GTHA.

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UrbanToronto has a research service, UrbanToronto Pro, that provides comprehensive data on construction projects in the Greater Toronto Area—from proposal through to completion. We also offer Instant Reports, downloadable snapshots based on location, and a daily subscription newsletter, New Development Insider, that tracks projects from initial application.​