According to Statistics Canada, in the fourth quarter, total investment in residential construction rose 5.6 percent from the same quarter of 2015 to $31.4 billion, reflecting increased spending on every component except cottages.
Higher investment in single-family dwellings, up 11.5 percent to $7.3 billion, accounted for nearly half of the increase at the national level. Rising renovation spending (+3.4 percent to $13.3 billion) and acquisition costs related to new dwellings (+6.9 percent to $3.6 billion) also contributed to the gain.
For the full year 2016, residential construction investment totaled $121.0 billion, up 3.6 percent over 2015. This marked the seventh consecutive annual increase. Higher investment in apartment and apartment-condominium buildings (+10.4 percent to $18.4 billion) and single-family dwellings (+6.2 percent to $27.2 billion) largely contributed to the advance.