According to Statistics Canada, investment in new housing construction increased 4.9 percent year over year to $5.0 billion in October.
At the national level, nearly half of residential construction spending was devoted to single-family homes. Investment in apartment buildings accounted for over one-third of national spending.
Year over year, investment in single family homes rose 6.0 percent to $2.4 billion in October, while spending on apartment buildings increased 2.1 percent to $1.8 billion. Row house construction investment increased 11.7 percent, whereas spending on semi-detached dwellings was up 3.4 percent.
At the provincial level, the largest gains in new housing spending were recorded in British Columbia and Ontario. These two provinces posted increases for all four dwelling types, and together accounted for two-thirds of total national investment.
In British Columbia, spending on new housing construction totaled $1.1 billion in October, up 31.4 percent from the same month a year earlier. Higher investment in apartment buildings and single-family homes largely drove the advance. In Ontario, investment in new residential construction increased 13.9 percent year over year to $2.1 billion in October. The gain was attributable mainly to higher spending on single-family homes and, to a lesser extent, row houses and apartment buildings.