Building material suppliers say tariffs are rattling customers, putting projects in jeopardy

Colleen Silverthorn · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 09, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

With outpouring operation play approaching, immoderate gathering proviso centres accidental customers are scuttling location betterment projects due to the fact that they're disquieted astir tariffs.

"There is inactive concern happening, but it is simply a noticeable difference," said Keith Nordal, an proprietor astatine the Home Hardware Home Building Centre successful Regina.

Nordal said concern was looking promising for the upcoming operation season, with tons of quotes successful March for platform builds, garages and fences. But successful the past mates of weeks, immoderate of his quoted projects person stalled.

"We've decidedly seen a spot of a dip," Nordal said.

"Some of the radical … haven't travel successful for their travel up meeting."

Nordal said customers he's speaking with are disquieted astir what U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and the ensuing commercialized war mean for the economy, gathering worldly prices and their ain jobs.

Trump has imposed a 25-per-cent tariff connected each goods not compliant with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). Non-compliant vigor and potash are tariffed 10 per cent.

In turn, Canada imposed a 25-per-cent tariff connected non-CUSMA compliant American goods entering this country.

The effect has been disorder and fearfulness for concern owners and customers.

Industry associations accidental it's excessively aboriginal to cognize the grade of the interaction connected Saskatchewan's operation and renovation sector, but the uncertainty is already impacting jobs.

"We're ramping up to operation play and there's not arsenic overmuch assurance arsenic determination would person been anterior to each this tariff talk. It's surely affecting the labour market," said Shannon Friesen, president of the Construction Association of Saskatchewan, which represents commercialized builders.

"There's fear. You can't overstate that."

Friesen said she's disquieted that if the commercialized warfare continues, companies volition commencement rethinking planned builds and intermission improvement projects.

"It feels a spot similar a game. It conscionable feels sometimes similar we're puppets being yanked connected a string."

Ryan Wilson, an proprietor of Wood Country Building Services successful McLean, astir 42 kilometres eastbound of Regina, said he's already had to woody with an unplanned terms summation owed to tariffs.

Earlier this year, Wilson placed an bid for overhead doors from an American supplier.

After the tariffs were announced, the supplier fto Wilson know the measure was going to beryllium a batch much than primitively estimated.

"Some were implicit $800 difference."

While Wilson was capable to negociate the terms down, helium said that benignant of uncertainty makes radical frightened to start building projects.

He suspects immoderate radical are holding disconnected connected projects due to the fact that they're disquieted astir their ain jobs if tariffs continue.

"We bash a batch of concern with farmers, truthful this 100-per-cent tariff connected canola is not going to assistance our manufacture astatine each either. Maybe that husbandman mightiness not physique that workplace gathering due to the fact that he's making little wealth connected canola," Wilson said.

"Those are the benignant of things that interest us."

Back successful Regina, section landscaper Barclay Krause said he's not seeing immoderate interaction connected his concern — yet.

"As it stands close now, this is looking to beryllium a grounds twelvemonth for us."

Krause said his customers are looking for high-end landscaping and thin to beryllium much recession resistant, but he's heard from different landscapers who aren't arsenic busy.

"The world is astatine immoderate constituent things could instrumentality a crook for the worse."

Stu Niebergall, president and CEO of the Regina and Region Homebuilders' Association, said his members are feeling the aforesaid uncertainty, but it hasn't translated into immoderate cancelled builds that he's alert of.

"It would beryllium hard to ideate arsenic we get done this process that thing is going to beryllium cheaper successful the future. So this spring, summer, mightiness really beryllium 1 of the champion times for radical to determination connected those projects."