Summary: As Canadian construction firms face tight costs and labour shortages, technology is an essential support. While new tools can’t solve every challenge, pairing the right technology investments with clear planning can improve productivity and keep firms competitive. In this article, we look at the most impactful technology investments for construction firms, as well as best practices to ensure they deliver real value.
The 2020s have posed significant challenges for the construction industry globally. Labour shortages, fluctuating costs, and changing supply chains, have placed a considerable strain on businesses. At the same time, both clients and regulators demand more transparency and predictability, which is hard to meet for smaller businesses.
While technology can be a valuable support in offsetting these pressures, construction firms need to make informed decisions about which solutions to adopt. By identifying the tools that support the needs of their industry, and the best practices for technology investment, construction firms can stay competitive without budgetary waste.
The Landscape for Construction Businesses
For many construction businesses, labour shortages remain the most pressing challenge they currently face. Even as Statistics Canada reports a modest overall employment uptick of 0.3% for October 2025, the construction sector saw a -0.9% downward trend.
Building permit values have also declined, with only commercial builds bucking the trend. The same can be said for construction starts in most sectors. BuildForce Canada believes this uncertainty is tied to the fluctuating U.S. tariffs, which have had a disproportionately high impact on construction by driving up raw material costs. Paired with rising labour costs, it makes for a difficult environment.
Canada has also seen a productivity crisis within residential construction, with some estimates suggesting that lost productivity between 2019 and 2024 added C$6-8 billion to construction costs.
Construction firms need ways to deliver more work, faster. While technology can’t solve every issue, it can relieve some of these constraints.
Where Technology Investment Has the Most Impact for Construction Companies
Investing in technology shouldn’t be a chase to the shiniest new software. Instead, it should support pain points and have a measurable productivity impact. This is especially true for small and mid-sized firms that face many demands and limited budgets. Currently, construction companies are seeing high impacts from the following investments:
Construction Management Software
Construction Management Software gives you a digital platform to bring together the workflows of each project. It typically supports budgeting and administrative tasks as well. This makes real-time collaboration easier, and documents are centrally loaded and shared, so progress tracking is clear.
Standardizing workflows can do a lot for both efficiency and productivity. For those operating between provinces, it can also simplify juggling each unique regulatory set by offering built-in audit trails and rule sets.
Project Costing and Financial Integration
Controlling costs is essential when facing turbulence like tariffs. If you can bring your project management tools together with your accounting and financial systems, you can keep tighter control of costs, and more accurately forecast your needs.
Mobile Field Technology
From time tracking and reporting to keeping consistent safety documentation, site-level inefficiencies are a hidden cost drain that mobile field technology can offset.
These tools also support employees, keeping manual paperwork to a minimum and helping with accurate data capture. Look out for simple-to-use products built specifically for the on-site conditions in construction.
Building Information Modelling (BIM)
BIM products are software solutions that use 3D modelling to bring projects to life. They offer a central data hub for materials, costs, and performance.
These solutions are one of the most expensive investments on this list, and may not be necessary for every small or mid-sized construction company. However, they can deliver investment returns for those firms working in public infrastructure.
They are also useful if you’re working on multi-unit or institutional projects, or have to present data to stakeholders regularly.
Automation and Equipment Technology
The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has opened up automation for a range of manual tasks. Manual work eats up time and does not generate revenue, so eliminating the administrative load can be a great cost saving.
There are two areas where this can benefit construction companies:
- Back Office: Reducing rote administrative tasks can simplify back office tasks. It also relieves the load on existing employees, letting them do more revenue-generating activities and less paper pushing.
- On-Site: We now see similar automation tools that can be taken into the field, such as automated surveying and layout tools. Again, these support workers and help compensate for labour shortages.
Depending on the construction sector, firms can also explore prefabricated components handled offsite through automation. Telematics-enhanced equipment can auto-alert to problems for predictive maintenance, or track use in the field.
Best Practices for Adopting Technology
Technology investment has driven improvements for 81% of Canadian construction firms. Here’s how your firm can see similar gains:
Know Your Priorities and Needs
Lay out clear objectives, such as improved cost control or addressing labour constraints, to help to ensure that any investment supports defined business needs. Then, rather than aiming for whole-firm change, pick select pilot projects where technology can address specific challenges.
This approach lets small and mid-sized construction firms phase their technology investments. Early pilots can begin generating return on investment to support future investment. Plus, the business can evaluate its impact on targeted metrics and learn implementation lessons without whole firm impacts.
Without this type of clarity, technology can often result in low utilization and poor ROI, rather than improvement.
Invest in Training and Measurement
While a lack of clarity can be a problem, technology can just as easily fail due to people and process issues. When planning a technology investment, it’s important to also plan for employee training. Focus not just on showing them how to use the tool, but also on why it supports their work.
As you introduce technology, don’t forget to measure for impact, as this will allow you to quantify your gains.
Integrate, Don’t Replace
Many construction firms have already invested heavily in infrastructure, often running on legacy systems. There are modular digital tools to integrate these with more modern offerings, which can help tighten new investment costs.
Likewise, automation needs clean data to support it. Eliminating data silos and duplication should be the first step in any technology drive, as it supports later investments.
Find Support
There are both federal and provincial government programs to help support technology adoption and digital transformation. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has a list of programs to get you started. Industry associations and sector councils also offer support and guidance.
Final Thoughts: How Technology Can Support Better Construction Efficiency
Technology alone won’t solve every challenge construction companies face. But with the right approach and the right investment, firms will see strong financial performance and higher productivity.
By focusing on practical tools and strong adoption, construction firms can position themselves for a competitive advantage. They can also take control of the bottlenecks holding them back.
Aprio’s advisory services support small and mid-sized Canadian construction companies as they align their technology investments with their operational needs. Connect with us today.