Investment in Building Construction down by over 6% in 2023
February 28, 2024 | By HPAC Magazine
Despite year-over-year declines, a positive trend was emerging at the end of the year as investment grew 7.8% in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Investment in building construction, seasonally adjusted, from 2018 to 2023. Source: Statistics Canada.
According to year-end reporting from Statistics Canada, year over year investment in building construction declined 6.6% to $229.1 billion across Canada in 2023.
The residential sector cooled off from 2022, declining 16.9% to $94 billion in 2023. Overall, nine of 10 provinces posted declines, with only New Brunswick recording a modest growth of 1.5%. The decline was led by the drop in the single-dwelling housing (-22.7%), while investment in the multi-dwelling building declined at a lower rate (-10.6%).
The non-residential sector edged up less than 1% (0.6%) in 2023. Gains in the industrial sector (+11.5%) was mostly offset by declines in investment in the commercial (-1.9%) and institutional (-1.1%) components.
Signs of a positive trend at the end of the year as investment in building construction grew 7.8% to $59.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The quarterly increase was led by growth in the residential sector (+11.1% to $40.9 billion), which was responsible for over 95% of the total increase for the quarter. Additionally, the increase in investment was broad-based, with eight provinces reporting strong gains.
Investment in the non-residential sector grew 1.1% to $18.1 billion in the fourth quarter. This marked a new high for the series and the 12th consecutive quarterly gain for the sector in Canada.
Gains in the non-residential sector were driven by institutional (+7.5% to $4.9 billion) and industrial (+2.9% to $3.8 billion) investments, which were partially offset by the decline in commercial investment (-2.5% to $9.5 billion).
