According to Statistics Canada, total investment in building construction decreased 1.7 percent to $15.2 billion in September, after reaching a record high in August. This can be attributed to decreases in the non-residential sector (-8.5 percent to $4.5 billion) which were partially offset by increases in the residential sector investment (+1.6 percent to $10.7 billion). Six provinces reported declines in September, with the largest in Quebec and Ontario.
Non-residential investment dropped by 8.5 percent to $4.5 billion, the third consecutive monthly decline after peaking in June 2020. The commercial, industrial and institutional components of non-residential building construction all fell to the lowest levels seen since April 2020. Ontario (-9.5 percent to $1.8 billion) and Quebec (-15.2 percent to $1.0 billion) accounted for the majority of the provincial declines in all three non-residential components.
Investment in commercial building construction was down 11.3 percent to $2.6 billion in September. Newfoundland and Labrador (+0.4 percent) was the only province to report an increase.
Investment in industrial building construction fell 5.6 percent, with every province reporting decreases. Quebec reported the largest decline, but remained above pre-COVID-19 levels in this component.
Nationally, the institutional component declined 3.7 percent, despite gains in five provinces.
Overall, investment in residential construction was up 1.6 percent, led by multi-unit investments. Multi-unit construction rose for the fifth consecutive month with gains in seven provinces. Manitoba and Quebec led the advance with both new construction and renovation projects on apartment buildings. The largest declines were reported in British Columbia (-4.1 percent), continuing a downward trend following the peak reached in May 2019.
Single unit investment in building construction was largely unchanged in September (-0.6 percent) after four consecutive monthly increases from May through August. Declines reported in five provinces were mostly offset by gains in Newfoundland and Labrador (+8.5 percent), New Brunswick (+5.8 percent), British Columbia (+1.8 percent) and Ontario (+0.2 percent).