The International trade contractors market grew from $5.4BN in 2022 to $5.7BN in 2023, with growth driven by an increase in demand in construction activity across North America. Currently, leading economies are competing for the same skills, with some countries changing immigration policy in order to attract skilled workers.

Further pressure is driven by the Ukraine war and the pandemic prior, both of which have generated a surge in commodity prices and disruptions in the global skills and materials supply chain driving inflation across goods and services and affecting markets across the globe. In some parts of the World, including across North America, projects are being postponed or cancelled altogether.

There is a growing demand for specialty trade contractors, include subcontractors that specialize in a specific discipline of a construction project.

The main types of specialty trade contractors are foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors; building equipment contractors; building finishing contractors; and other specialty trade contractors. Foundation, structure, and construction exterior contractors work in the speciality trades required to finish a building’s basic structure (foundation, frame, and shell).

Construction costs are increasing steadily due to rising material costs. Companies in the industry experienced subdued growth in their profits with rising prices of materials such as crude oil. A key component of asphalt, increased by 58% in 2021 from the year 2020 . According to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) released by the Bureau of Labour Statistics, in the US, prices paid for items used in residential construction jumped 1.7% in April 2021 and have increased by 12.4% over the last 12 months. Softwood lumber prices increased 6.5 percent in April 2021, setting a new high for the third month in a row, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Lumber prices have risen by 52.0 percent since November 2020. High material prices will continue to adversely affect the specialty trade contractor market for years to come.