According to Statistics Canada, investment in non-residential building construction totaled $13.7 billion in the fourth quarter, up 1.6 percent over the previous quarter, marking a third consecutive quarterly increase. Nationally, gains were reported for all three components (institutional, industrial and commercial), led by spending on institutional building construction, up $117.2 million to $3.9 billion.
In a year-on-year analysis, total investment in non-residential building construction in Canada increased 1.2 percent in 2017 compared with 2016. Spending on both institutional building construction (+$380.0 million or +2.6 percent) and industrial building construction (+$257.5 million or +3.5 percent) were the drivers behind the total annual increase. Total investment in commercial construction was unchanged from 2016 to 2017.