The Buildings Show at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre is Canada's largest building and design event. Every year, thousands of architects, designers, hotel owners, and contractors walk the floor looking for what's next. In the bathroom and plumbing categories, the message has been consistent for the last three years: Canadian hoteliers are changing how they spec showers.
Here is what the trends actually look like on the ground.
This is not a new trend, but the pace has changed. In 2019, maybe 30 percent of new Canadian hotel rooms specified walk-in showers instead of tub-shower combos. By 2025, that number is closer to 70 percent.
The reason is not just aesthetics. Hotel housekeeping staff report that tubs take longer to clean. Guests — particularly business travelers — rarely use them. And from a renovation standpoint, removing a tub opens up the bathroom layout. Canadian hoteliers are using that extra space to add larger shower areas with bench seating or grab bars.
The notable difference from the US market: Canadian properties tend to keep at least one tub in suites and accessible rooms. The standard rooms go shower-only.
Grout has been the weak point in hotel showers for decades. It stains. It cracks. It harbors mold. In a Canadian climate where bathrooms experience rapid temperature changes, grout fails even faster.
At The Buildings Show, groutless shower systems were everywhere. Cast marble panels with zero grout lines. Solid surface pans with integrated slopes. Large-format porcelain panels with tight tolerances.
The appeal for Canadian hoteliers is maintenance reduction. A groutless shower eliminates the most common guest complaint — dirty-looking grout — and the most common maintenance call — regrouting after water damage.
One Toronto-based hotel architect told us: "We spec groutless on every project now. It costs more upfront but we break even inside three years on maintenance savings alone."
This is the biggest difference between the Canadian and US markets. In the US, IAPMO certification is the standard. In Canada, CSA B45.5 is the code requirement.
Several exhibitors at The Buildings Show were asked directly: "Is this CSA certified?" The ones who could answer yes had crowds around their booths. The ones who could not were explaining their timeline for getting certified.
Canadian building codes reference CSA standards directly. The National Building Code of Canada (NBC) and provincial codes all point to CSA B45.5 for plumbing fixtures. You cannot install a shower system in a Canadian hotel without meeting this standard.
For importers and specifiers, this means checking certification before anything else. A product that is IAPMO certified but not CSA certified still needs approval before it can be used in Canada.
Here is a constraint that every Canadian hotelier understands: the construction season is short.
In much of Canada, exterior work stops from November through March. Interior renovations continue, but labor availability drops. Skilled trades are in high demand and short supply.
This pushes hoteliers toward prefabricated systems. Cast marble shower panels that arrive ready to install. Pre-sloped pans that need no mud work. Systems that can be installed by two people in a day rather than requiring a tile crew for a week.
At The Buildings Show, the manufacturers showing prefab systems got more serious inquiries than those showing traditional tile solutions. The reason was simple: speed. A 100-room renovation that takes 8 weeks with prefab panels takes 16 weeks with tile. In Canadian dollars, that is a lot of lost revenue.
The Canadian hotel market is not a smaller version of the US market. It is structurally different:
Project Size. The average Canadian hotel project is smaller. Where a US developer might build 300 rooms, a Canadian developer builds 120 to 150. This changes the supply chain — Canadian buyers need suppliers who can handle smaller volumes without minimum-order headaches.
Brand Standards. Canadian franchises tend to follow brand standards more strictly. US properties sometimes find workarounds. Canadian general managers are less likely to deviate from the spec book.
Cold Climate. This is obvious but worth stating. Canadian hotels deal with colder temperatures, more freeze-thaw cycles, and more humidity from snow melting indoors. Materials need to perform differently. Cast marble handles this well because it does not expand and contract like tile does.
Distribution. Getting materials to Canadian hotels is harder. The population is spread along a narrow band near the US border. Shipping to remote or northern properties adds cost and complexity.
Cast marble hits all the requirements Canadian hoteliers are asking for:
The material is not new to Canada. Cast marble has been used in Canadian hotels for decades. What has changed is the share of specification. As more hoteliers move away from tile and tubs, cast marble is picking up that business.
Is CSA B45.5 certification required across all Canadian provinces?
Yes. All provinces and territories reference CSA B45.5 in their building codes. Some provinces have additional requirements, but CSA B45.5 is the baseline.
How much faster is a cast marble shower install compared to tile?
A cast marble shower can be installed in one day. Tile takes three to five days including waterproofing, setting, and grouting.
Do Canadian hotels still use tubs?
In standard rooms, tubs are disappearing. Most brands now require walk-in showers in standard rooms and reserve tubs for suites and accessible rooms.
What is the typical cost difference between cast marble and tile in Canada?
Cast marble installed runs roughly $1,800 to $2,500 per shower for a standard hotel bathroom. Tile installation is comparable or slightly lower for basic work, but higher for premium tile.
Can cast marble be used in Canadian hotels with in-room heated floors?
Yes. Cast marble works with radiant heating systems. The material conducts heat well and feels warm underfoot.
Related: Article 84 (Cast Marble vs Solid Surface), Article 86 (Importing from China to Canada), Article 30 (Cast Marble Panels Installation Guide), Article 42 (Canadian Building Codes for Bathroom Fixtures), Article 69 (Hotel Renovation Planning Guide)
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