According to Statistics Canada, the composite price index for apartment building construction declined 0.1 percent in the third quarter compared with the previous quarter. This was the first quarterly decrease since the first quarter of 2013. The decline was largely the result of lower material prices reported by contractors in the structural trades.
Of the seven census metropolitan areas surveyed, Edmonton (-1.1 percent) reported the largest decline, followed by Calgary (-0.9 percent). The decreases were offset by increases in Toronto (+0.4 percent), Halifax (+0.2 percent) and Vancouver (+0.1 percent).
Year over year, the composite price index for apartment building construction rose 1.0 percent. Toronto (+2.1 percent) recorded the largest year-over-year increase, while Edmonton (-1.1 percent) and Calgary (-0.8 percent) reported the only decreases compared with the third quarter of 2014.