Ottawa, ON — With gains in both the residential (plus 1.7 per cent) and non-residential (plus 2.0 per cent) sector, investment in building construction increased by 1.8 per cent to 20.3 billion in March 2022, reports Statistics Canada.
Overall, the total value of investment in building construction increased 9.2 per cent to $59.7 billion in the first quarter of 2022.
Residential
In March, residential construction investment rose for a sixth consecutive month, up 1.7% to $15.1 billion. Ontario contributed about three-quarters of the monthly increase.
Investment in single-family homes also increased, up 4.3 per cent to $8.4 billion. Once again, Ontario showed the most growth, up 6.2 per cent.
However, after five consecutive months of growth, multi-unit construction investment decreased 1.4 per cent to $6.7 billion in March. Despite strong growth in British Columbia (plus 3.8 per cent), declines were seen in six provinces, which offset the growth seen in B.C.
Overall, for the first quarter of 2022, residential investment in the single-unit component rose 11.2 per cent to $24.2 billion.
Non-residential
For a ninth consecutive month, investment in the non-residential construction sector increased, up 2.0 per cent in March. Quebec was responsible for more than half of the growth seen in March.
Commercial investment gained 2.4 per cent to $2.9 billion and all provinces reported growth, with Quebec leading the way (plus 6.7 per cent.)
Investment in industrial construction also increased, up 1.9 per cent to $910 million. Strong growth in Ontario (plus 2.6 per cent) and Quebec (plus 2.7 per cent) contributed to the majority of the gains in March. In addition, for the third consecutive month, institutional investment rose 1.1 per cent to $1.4 billion in March.
Investment in the non-residential sector was up 4.3 per cent to $15.3 billion, with all its sub-components increasing compared with the fourth quarter of 2021. The commercial component, which contributed the most to the non-residential sector, gained 5.1 per cent to $8.5 billion, its fifth consecutive quarterly growth.