According to Statistics Canada, residential construction investment rose 6.8 percent to $28.5 billion in the fourth quarter compared with the same quarter in 2013. Renovation spending accounted for most of the increase at the national level, rising 10.3 percent to $12.9 billion. Single-family dwellings (+5.1 percent to $6.8 billion), row houses (+13.6 percent to $1.2 billion) and apartments (+3.5 percent to $3.8 billion) also contributed to the gain.
Overall for the year, residential construction investment totaled $109.5 billion, up 3.8 percent from the previous year. This marked the fifth consecutive yearly increase. The majority of the gain came from higher renovation spending (+7.3 percent to $50.6 billion), followed by row houses (+15.2 percent to $4.4 billion) and single-family dwellings (+1.9 percent to $26.0 billion).