According to Statistics Canada, investment in new housing construction increased 6.3 percent from May 2017 to $4.8 billion in May 2018. The year-over-year increase was led by spending on multiple-unit construction (apartment buildings, row houses and semi-detached houses), while spending on single-family homes was down.
Apartment building construction rose in eight provinces, led by Quebec (+$225.2 million), Ontario (+$114.5 million) and British Columbia (+$93.2 million), accounting for 39.7 percent of total investment in new housing construction and the largest share on record since the start of this data series in 1992.
Spending on row house construction was up 11.7 percent (+$56.4 million) compared with May 2017, mainly driven by investment in Ontario (+$16.0 million), Alberta (+$15.3 million) and British Columbia (+$14.4 million).
Investment in semi-detached houses increased by 8.8 percent (+$19.7 million) in May compared with the same month in 2017. Quebec (+$8.7 million) and British Columbia (+$6.5 million) saw the largest provincial gains for this component.
Spending on single homes was down 9.9 percent (-$232.3 million) year over year. Overall, nine provinces reported lower spending, with Ontario (-$96.9 million) and Quebec (-$59.7 million) posting the largest declines.