Canadian Building Construction Price Indexes for Q3
Building construction price indexes, third quarter 2024
On Tuesday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) released the results of its Q3 Building Construction Price Indexes (BCPI). In Q3, residential building construction costs increased 0.9% on a quarterly basis, following a 1.0% increase in the previous quarter. Nonresidential building construction costs rose 0.5% on a quarterly basis, following a 1.4% increase in the previous quarter.
According to StatCan, this marks the slowest quarterly growth since 2020Q2 for residential building construction costs and since 2020Q4 for nonresidential building construction costs.
Year-over-year, construction costs for residential buildings rose 4.0% in the 15-Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) composite in Q3, while nonresidential building construction costs increased 3.9%.
Builders noted that the industry continued to face cost pressure from skilled labor shortages, land prices and availability, and building code changes.
Changes in the BCPI Report
StatCan highlighted that four CMAs were added to the BCPI in Q3: Québec, London, Regina, and Victoria. Indexes for these CMAs are available beginning with 2023Q1.
Between the new CMAs, Victoria posted a 0.8% increase, the largest rise in residential construction prices in Q3, while London posted a 0.8% increase, the largest increase in nonresidential construction prices.
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