Canadian Investment in Building Construction Increases 1.1% to $17.9 Billion in August

Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported on Friday (10-20-23) that investment in Canadian building construction increased 1.1% to $17.9 billion (CAD) in August. On a constant dollar basis (2012=100), investment in building construction increased 1.0% to $10.2 billion.

StatCan reports that after five months of consecutive declines, investment in residential building construction increased 1.6% to $11.9 billion in August. The growth was led by both single-family and multi-units in Quebec, which were up 7.6%, or $2.1 billion.

Single-family home investment rose 2.4% to $5.9 billion with six out of ten provinces posting gains. Multi-unit construction investment was up as well, increasing 0.9% to $6.0 billion in August.

Investment in non-residential construction inched 0.1% higher in August to $5.9 billion. Despite gains in industrial investment—which posted a gain of 1.1%, or $13.4 billion—and institutional investment—which posted a 0.7% gain, or $10.1 million—the decline in the commercial component of 0.5%, or $15.8 billion, left the non-residential sector basically unchanged for the month.