Residential Construction Investment in Canada Sets New Record High Level in February

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) is reporting that record levels have been reported for investment in residential construction since September 2020, and they reached a new record high of $12.3 billion in February 2021. A majority of the growth is coming from single-family home construction, which rose for a fifth consecutive month, up 9.4% to $6.7 billion in February. Single-family homes being built in census metropolitan areas (CMAs) continued to drive the growth; however, record highs were set both in and outside CMAs. Investment outside CMAs increased 37.6% compared with February 2020, the largest year-over-year increase this component has reported since comparable data were available, back to 2011. The strength of single-family home investment in recent months may be partly attributable to an increased demand for more living space as Canada approaches the end of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Multi-unit construction investment also rose in February, up 1.6% to $5.7 billion. In contrast non-residential construction investment was little changed for a fifth consecutive month, edging up 0.2% to $4.5 billion in February.