The Construction industry was home to approximately 1,137 establishments and employed 11,590 people in 2024, making up 5.2% of London’s total workforce (Lightcast, February 10, 2025). London’s construction sector is expected to benefit from the construction of Volkswagen’s electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in St. Thomas. Production is scheduled to start in 2027, putting the area on the path to becoming a global leader in EV parts and manufacturing. Work on the EV battery plant is also expected to boost employment in London’s construction sector, which is forecasted to post job gains of 1.4% in 2026. The battery plant is set to create jobs in construction during the building phase and manufacturing jobs once the plant opens. It will likely also generate spin-off jobs in other industries such as transportation and warehousing once production is in full swing.
Output in London’s construction industry is projected to experience a 0.6% decline in 2025, marking the fourth straight year of declines. But this trend is expected to reverse course in 2026, with a 2.4% gain. The Adelaide Street underpass, the East London Link, and Wellington Gateway are examples of multi-million-dollar projects that have generated construction activity in recent years. While some of these projects continued into 2025, non-residential construction will not be enough to offset weak residential construction, leading to the mild decrease in the construction sector in 2025. Housing starts are expected to maintain an upward trajectory between 2025 and 2029. The deal reached with the federal government under the Housing Accelerator Fund will help the city build 2,000 new homes over the next few years. Overall, output in the city’s construction sector is forecasted to grow at an average annual rate of 2.8% between 2026 and 2029.