According to Statistics Canada, investment in new housing construction decreased 2.2 percent from August 2017 to $5.1 billion in August 2018, the first year-over-year decline since May 2014. The decrease in August was attributable to lower spending on single homes, semi-detached homes and row houses.
Investment declined in five provinces, with Ontario (-$121.1 million), Alberta (-$56.9 million) and Saskatchewan (-$38.2 million) reporting the largest declines. In all three provinces, lower investment in single homes was the main contributor to the decrease. Conversely, British Columbia reported the strongest growth, a result of increased spending on apartment building construction.
In Nova Scotia (+$6.7 million) and Prince Edward Island (+$4.0 million), investment was up for all components. In Nova Scotia, the gain was due to increased spending on single homes (+$3.3 million) and apartment building (+$2.5 million) construction. In Prince Edward Island, the increase was led by apartment building construction (+$2.6 million).
Investment in single home construction was down by 18.6 percent or $513.9 million compared with August 2017. Spending on single home construction declined in eight provinces, mainly in Ontario (-$240.4 million), Quebec (-$97.6 million) and Alberta (-$82.8 million).
Spending on row unit construction declined by $53.1 million (-10.1 percent) in August. Spending was down in six provinces, primarily reflecting a $44.4 million drop in Ontario compared with the same month last year.
Apartment building construction was up 27.4 percent (+$460.9 million) compared with August 2017. Construction in this component was up in every province, led by Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec. Apartment building construction grew by 32.3 percent (+$171.7 million) in Ontario, while British Columbia (+26.1 percent or +$135.2 million) posted its largest year-over-year increase since December 2016.