Between 2013 and 2023, productivity in Quebec’s construction sector dropped by 10.8%, according to the latest Innovation Barometer from the Conseil de l’innovation du Québec and the Institut de recherche en économie contemporaine. While other industries in the province grew by 8%, construction lost ground, a striking contrast for a sector worth nearly $30 billion and employing over 344,000 people. The gap between what the industry could deliver and what it actually does is widening.
Today’s jobsites are safer, teams are better trained, and equipment is more advanced. But when it comes to tracking production, costs, or schedules, many companies still rely on scattered tools, spreadsheets, or even paper reports.
The result? Data gets lost, decisions come too late, and budget overruns pile up. It’s still common for a foreman to spend an hour a day on reports or for a project manager to discover a cost overrun weeks after it happened.
In Ontario, the productivity decline is slightly smaller (–8.9%), but the pattern is the same: without clear visibility into what’s happening on site, improving performance is nearly impossible.
Related: Is Using Excel on the Jobsite Quietly Killing Your Company’s Profitability?
There are encouraging signs. The Barometer notes that R&D investments jumped 57% between 2018 and 2022. The sector is starting from a low base, only 0.14% of its GDP goes to R&D, compared to 1.46% across all industries, but the shift is meaningful.
Even more promising: innovation is no longer just about design or materials. It’s now transforming how projects are managed, planned, and executed. More and more companies are adopting collaborative platforms, real-time tracking systems, and integrated management tools that bridge the gap between office and field.
These solutions help break down silos, improve data reliability, and enable faster, and more accurate, decision-making.
To turn things around, companies first need a clear view of daily operations, the ability to answer simple but critical questions like: Where do we stand? What is this really costing us?
That’s exactly what solutions like Civalgo make possible. They provide instant visibility into costs and productivity, helping teams spot variances early and act before margins erode.
Innovation isn’t just about spending on R&D, it’s about giving teams the tools and data they need to move faster and make smarter decisions.
Learn more: Why Companies That Go Digital with Project Management See Higher Profitability.
Productivity is ultimately a people issue. According to the Commission de la construction du Québec (CCQ), the industry will need to attract around 16,000 new workers each year by 2029 to replace retiring employees and sustain growth. Activity levels will remain high, about 211 million hours worked per year.
Every departure comes at a steep cost, up to $20,000 in recruitment, training, and lost productivity. But beyond the dollars, it’s the expertise, team cohesion, and schedule stability that take the hit.
Many companies focus on hiring, but the real lever is retention: keeping crews in place, transferring knowledge, clarifying objectives, recognizing effort, and maintaining motivation. That’s what drives consistent performance over time.
Here again, technology plays a crucial role. The right digital tools don’t replace people, they remove the daily friction and make work smoother.
When employees gain that visibility and sense of control, engagement rises and avoidable turnover drops. People stay longer, feel more valued, and contribute more consistently. In the long run, retention becomes a key performance indicator: stable teams execute faster, avoid costly rework, and preserve operational know-how — quiet but powerful productivity gains.
This productivity decline isn’t inevitable, it’s a wake-up call. The next big gains won’t come from massive infrastructure projects but from modernizing management practices, streamlining information flow, and improving coordination between the office and the field.
Quebec has a strong innovation ecosystem, recognized expertise, and companies ready to move. The challenge now is to turn that potential into tangible on-site performance. Those who embrace this shift today will gain a decisive advantage in the decade ahead.
Ready to see how Civalgo can transform your operations and protect your margins? Request a personalized demo!
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