Investment in Canadian Building Construction Increases 1.5% in February

On Tuesday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported that investment in building construction rose 1.5%, or C$331.7 million, to $22.4 billion in February, with gains recorded across all components.

On a constant dollar basis (2017=100), investment in building construction increased 1.2% to $13.4 billion and was up 5.6% year-over-year.

Residential Investment

Investment in residential building construction rose $277.5 million to $15.7 billion in February.

Multi-unit construction led the increase, climbing $241.5 million to $8.4 billion. This growth was largely driven by gains in Ontario ($357.8 million) and British Columbia ($53.1 million), which were partially offset by declines in Alberta ($62.7 million), Nova Scotia ($41.5 million), as well as four other provinces and three territories.

Single-family home investment edged up by $36.0 million to $7.3 billion. Increases in Quebec ($48.2 million) and four other provinces were moderated by decreases across the remaining provinces and territories.

Nonresidential Investment

Nonresidential construction investment rose by $54.2 million to $6.8 billion in February. All three components posted gains: institutional investment increased by $26.7 million, commercial by $15.1 million, and industrial by $12.4 million.