Slight Rise in Building Construction Investment in February

According to the latest from Statistics Canada, investment in building construction across the country went up 1% to $20.6 billion in February over the previous month. The residential sector rose 1.1% to $15.0 billion, while the non-residential sector was up 0.8% to $5.6 billion.

Nova Scotia leads Residential Segment

Single-family home investment nationwide contributed the most to the month-over-month growth (+1.3%; +$102.8 million), with Nova Scotia recording its largest monthly dollar increase for the single-family component since March 2013 (+19.9%; +$47.5 million).

Multi-unit residential construction investment increased 0.8% to $6.9 billion, mostly driven by Ontario (+7.6%), while Quebec continued to contract with its ninth consecutive decline since reaching its peak in May 2022.

Non-residential Continues Positive Run

Ontario led the gains in every component of investment in non-residential construction.

The industrial sector rose 1.1% to $1.1 billion in February and was up 23.1% year over year nationwide. This was the 15th consecutive monthly increase. StatsCan notes that the steady increase was largely driven by mining and agriculture, up 61.1% from December 2021 to February 2023 on an unadjusted basis.

Commercial construction investment was relatively flat in February, up 0.5% to $3.1 billion. Both Ontario and Manitoba continued to climb for the sixth consecutive month.

And institutional construction investment was up 1% to $1.4 billion in February. The construction start of an educational building in Kelowna, B.C. contributed to the overall growth in the month.

housing statistics