Investment in Canadian Building Construction Declines 1.1% in October

On Wednesday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported that overall investment in building construction fell 1.1%, or $243.3 million (CAD), to $21.4 billion in October, following a 2.6% increase in September. However, year-over-year, investment grew 3.4%.

On a constant dollar basis (2017=100), investment dropped 1.1% from the previous month to $12.9 billion but rose 0.3% year-over-year.

Residential

Investment in residential building construction fell 2.1% to $14.9 billion in October, with declines recorded in six provinces and two territories. Ontario led the decreases, down $315.8 million, followed by British Columbia ($67.7 million) and Nova Scotia ($42.6 million). These losses were partially offset by gains in four provinces and one territory, with Quebec leading the increases at $76.5 million.

Investment in multi-unit construction dropped 5.1% to $7.8 billion, following a record high of $8.2 billion in September. The decline was primarily driven by Ontario, which saw a $434.9 million decrease, ending four consecutive months of growth.

In contrast, single-family home investment increased 1.6% to $7.1 billion.

Nonresidential

Investment in nonresidential construction rose 1.1% ($69.0 million) to $6.5 billion in October.

The industrial component increased 1.9% ($25.9 million) to $1.4 billion, driven by gains in Ontario ($15.0 million) and Manitoba ($14.6 million). These increases were partially offset by declines in four provinces and one territory.

Commercial construction investment edged up 0.3% ($11.1 million) to $3.2 billion, with gains in Ontario ($26.2 million) tempered by decreases across seven provinces and two territories.

Institutional construction investment rose 1.8% ($32.0 million) to $1.9 billion, with increases recorded in eight provinces and three territories. Only Quebec (down $5.2 million) and New Brunswick (down $0.7 million) posted declines for the month.