Investment in building construction increased 1.2 per cent to $18.0 billion in November, as reported on by Statistics Canada.Ottawa, ON — Investment in building construction increased 1.2 per cent to $18.0 billion in November, according to Statistics Canada. Every component saw increases except for industrial construction.
Residential
Thanks to significant gains in Ontario (up 2.5 per cent) and Quebec (up 3.3 per cent), multi-unit construction investment rose 2.4 per cent nationally. Investment in single-family homes also increased 0.7 per cent to $7.1 billion. Ontario also led in gains, up 1.7 per cent.
Overall, residential construction investment rose 1.5 per cent to $13.1 billion in November.
Non-residential
In the non-residential sector, construction investment also increased 0.6 per cent to $4.9 billion. For the fifth consecutive month, commercial investment increased, up 0.6 per cent to $2.7 billion. Prince Edward Island and Alberta were the only provinces to report decreases in this component.
Investment in the institutional component also increased, up 1.4 per cent to $1.4 billion. Thanks to gains in Quebec (plus 4.9 per cent), the province largely offset the declines seen in other provinces.
Industrial construction declined 0.7 per cent to $824 million. Ontario (down 1.6 per cent) and Manitoba (down 6.8 per cent) reported the largest declines, while Nova Scotia reported substantial gains, up 14.8 per cent.