Ottawa, ON — It’s a good time to be in the building sector. Investment in building construction increased 1.0 per cent to $20.6 billion in February, with all components posting gains. According to the monthly report conducted by Statistics Canada, the residential sector rose 1.1 per cent to $15 billion, while the non-residential construction sector was up 0.8 per cent to $5.6 billion.
On a constant dollar basis, investment increased 0.2 per cent to $11.9 billion.
Single-family construction in Nova Scotia helped drive the overall increase in investment for the residential sector, which reported its largest monthly dollar increase for the sincle family component (up 19.9 per cent or an increase of $47.5 million) since March 2013. In total, it increased by 1.1 per cent to $15 billion in February, with single-family home investment contributing the most to the growth.
Multi-unit construction increased by 0.8 per cent to $6.9 billion, mostly driven by Ontario, which was up 7.6 per cent. On the other hand, Quebec continued to contract, with its ninth consecutive decline since reach its peak in May 2022.
Non-residential construction held its ninth straight month of increases in investment for the month of February. Investment increased 0.8 per cent to $5.6 billion, with Ontario leading the gains in every component.
Industrial construction investment rose 1.1 per cent to $1.1 billion and was up 23.1 per cent year-over-year. This was the 15th consecutive monthly increase. The steady increase was largely driven by the mining and agriculture subcomponent, up 61.1 per cent from December 2021 to February 2023 on an unadjusted basis.
Commercial construction investment was relatively stable in February, up 0.5 per cent to $3.1 billion. Both Ontario and Manitoba continued to climb for the sixth consecutive month.
Institutional construction investment was up 1.0 per cent to $1.4 billion. The construction start of an educational building in Kelowna, B.C. helped contribute to the overall growth. Conversely, Newfoundland and Labrador posted its 16th consecutive monthly drop in February, leading to its lowest recorded value since June 2018.