According to Statistics Canada, spending on new housing construction totaled $4.2 billion in May, up 5.0 percent from the same month a year earlier.
The increase at the national level came mainly from higher investment in apartment and apartment-condominium building construction, up 17.2 percent year over year to $1.5 billion. Spending on row house construction also contributed to the advance, up 13.4 percent to $454 million.
In contrast, investment in single-family dwellings was $2.0 billion, 2.6 percent lower than in May 2015, while spending on semi-detached dwelling construction declined 10.7 percent to $206 million.