Canadian Rental Industry to Increase Almost 10 Percent in 2021, IHS Markit Forecasts
The Canadian event and equipment rental industry will increase nearly 10 percent in 2021 according to a forecast released by the Canadian Rental Association. The forecast also calls for event and equipment rental revenue to approach $5.4 billion this year.
This new quarterly forecast is the first to focus entirely on the event and equipment rental market in Canada and provides the most complete look into the general tool, construction and industrial equipment, and tent and event rental segments of the Canadian market. This new forecast, compiled by IHS Markit on behalf of CRA, shows the industry will continue to grow 7.9 percent in 2022, surpassing the pre-pandemic peak of $5.6 billion in 2019. By 2025 the Canadian equipment rental industry should surpass $6.3 billion. Nathalie McGregor, CEO of the Canadian Rental Association, said the forecast shines a light on effects of pandemic-related public health measures on the event and equipment rental industry in Canada.
“The forced shuttering of gatherings and events, combined with restrictions on Canadians’ ability to travel has taken the tent and event rental segment to the brink of collapse while simultaneously fueling growth in the general tool and construction segments,” McGregor said.
General tool rental revenue will increase by 11.4 percent in 2021, setting a new high point in rental revenue of $1.1 billion and wiping out the 8.3 percent decline seen in 2020. Significant growth in residential construction will help drive rental revenue in this sector. By 2025 rental revenue in this segment will exceed $1.2 billion.
The construction and industrial equipment rental sector will grow by 8.5 percent in 2021 to $4.1 billion. The growth will be helped by improving industrial production, rising oil sands investments and improvement in the construction sector. Six percent growth in 2022 will allow the sector to surpass the 2019 pre-pandemic revenue peak. Rental revenue in this sector will approach $4.8 billion by 2025, the forecast says.
Tent and event rental revenue was profoundly impacted by the pandemic, with revenue falling 64 percent. As the country begins reopening, revenue for this sector is expected to increase 34 percent in 2021 and 95 percent in 2022. The 2022 revenue of $300 million will still be 6 percent below the pre-pandemic levels of 2019. This segment is not expected to fully recover until 2024, but by 2025, tent and even revenue should reach $336 million. The forecast also shows that the growth and recovery will be mainly driven by British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec, all of which are forecast for double digit rental revenue growth, while the Prairie and Atlantic provinces will see a more modest growth rate in the lower single digit range.
The Canadian Rental Association is based in Stoney Creek, Ontario.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.