Investment in Canadian Building Construction Increases 2.1% in September

On Wednesday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported that investment in building construction in Canada rose 2.1% to $21.6 billion (CAD) in September, following a 0.2% increase in August. Year-over-year, investment in building construction grew 6.7%.

On a constant dollar basis (2017=100), investment in building construction increased 1.6% to $13.0 billion in September and was up 3.1% year-over-year.

Residential

Investment in residential building construction was up 2.9%, or $433.4 million, to $15.2 billion in September. Increases were recorded in seven provinces and three territories.

Single-family home investment rose 4.0%, or $271.1 million, to $7.0 billion. Monthly gains were observed in seven provinces and two territories, led by Ontario with an increase of $141.1 million.

Investment in multi-unit construction increased 2.0%, or $162.4 million, to $8.2 billion. This gain was led by Ontario, up $91.1 million; Quebec, up $57.8 million; and Alberta, up $45.4 million. Those increases were moderated by decreases in six other provinces.

Nonresidential

Investment in nonresidential construction edged up 0.3%, or $19.0 million, to $6.4 billion in September.

The industrial component increased 1.3%, or $18.3 million, to $1.4 billion.

Commercial construction investment grew 0.4%, or $12.5 million, to $3.2 billion. Monthly increases were recorded in three provinces and one territory, with Ontario’s $19.4 million gain leading the way.

Institutional construction investment decreased 0.6%, or $11.8 million, after reaching a record high in August. The decline was partially offset by gains in five provinces and one territory, led by Saskatchewan’s increase of 9.8% to $40.2 million.

Q3 Summary

Investment in building construction was $63.8 billion in the third quarter, up 1.7% from the previous quarter. Year-over-year, investment in building construction grew 7.5% in Q3.

Investment in residential building construction rose 2.2% to $44.7 billion in Q3, marking the fifth consecutive quarterly gain. The multi-unit component increased 4.5% to $24.3 billion, while the single-family homes component edged down 0.4% to $20.4 billion.

Investment in the nonresidential sector edged up 0.6% to $19.1 billion in Q3. Increases in the commercial sector of 1.0% to $9.6 billion and institutional component of 1.0% to $5.4 billion were partially offset by the decline in the industrial component, down 0.8% to $4.1 billion.