Investment in Canadian Building Construction Declines in April

On Thursday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported that the total value of investment in building construction fell by 3.2% (CA$741.9 million) to $22.3 billion in April.

On a constant dollar basis (2023=100), investment declined 3.3% from March but remained 5.6% higher than April 2024.

Residential

Residential building construction investment dropped by $723.0 million to $15.5 billion, driven mainly by the multi-unit component, which fell $441.1 million to $8.7 billion. The single-family component declined $281.9 million to $6.8 billion.

Ontario led the national decline in multi-unit investment with a $410.3 million drop. Losses were also recorded in six other provinces and all three territories. British Columbia partially offset the national decline with a $69.3 million gain.

Single-family investment also saw declines, led by Ontario (-$181.0 million) and Alberta (-$121.4 million).

Nonresidential

Nonresidential investment edged down $18.9 million to $6.8 billion in April, as declines in the commercial (-1.0%) and industrial (-0.8%) components were partially offset by a 1.3% increase in institutional investment.

Commercial investment fell $33.6 million to $3.3 billion, with declines in seven provinces and two territories, led by Ontario (-$23.2 million).

Industrial investment decreased $11.1 million to $1.4 billion, with Quebec accounting for over half the drop (-$6.1 million).