The Canadian hotel development pipeline includes 224 projects - comprising 25,793 rooms - at the end of the first quarter of the calendar year, according to a new report.

Smith Travel Research's (STR) Construction Pipeline Report said the figures represented a 1.1 per cent decrease in room numbers compared to February 2009, but a 3.6 per cent increase when compared to March 2008.

The luxury sector increased 23.4 per cent to 1,132 rooms compared to March last year, while the upper upscale sector saw a 24.5 per cent increase to 2,654 rooms in the active pipeline.

The midscale with food and beverage sector leapt 74 per cent to 2,015 rooms and the economy sector grew by 22.8 per cent to 603 rooms.

The upscale sector fell 2.2 per cent to 6,741 rooms, while the midscale without food and beverage and unaffiliated sectors fell 7.5 per cent and 3 per cent to 5,497 and 7,151 rooms respectively.