Investment in Canadian Building Construction Declines in March

Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported Wednesday (5-17-23) that investment in Canadian building construction declined 1.3% to $20.3 billion (CAD) in March. On a constant dollar basis (2012=100), investment in building construction fell 1.8% to $11.5 billion in March.

Investment in residential building construction declined 2.1% to $14.6 billion in March. Investment in single-family homes decreased 1.8% to $7.9 billion, and seven provinces posted declines. Multi-unit constructions fell 2.4% to $6.7 billion in March.

Investment in non-residential construction continued its upward trajectory, climbing 0.9% to $5.7 billion in March. For the sixteenth consecutive month, industrial construction investment increased, rising 3.4% to $1.2 billion. Institutional construction investment increased 0.7% to $1.4 billion. Commercial construction investment was little changed, posting a 0.1% increase to $3.1 billion.

Q1 2023 Review:

StatCan in reporting that the total value of investment in building construction was basically unchanged at $61.1 billion in 2023Q1. All of the declines in Q1 were in the residential sector—which fell 0.9% to $44.2 billion due to multi-unit construction—while the non-residential sector increased by 2.3% to $16.9 billion.