According to Statistics Canada, total investment in Canadian building construction increased 1.4 percent in August to $15.5 billion, with gains in both the residential (+1.8 percent to $10.6 billion) and non-residential (+0.5 percent to $4.9 billion) sectors.
Investment in residential building construction was up 1.8 percent in August to $10.6 billion. The multi-unit component edged up 0.4 percent to $5.3 billion, led by Ontario (+$129.2 million). Investment in single-unit construction increased 3.2 percent to $5.4 billion, slightly exceeding multi-unit residential investment. This was partly due to gains in Ontario (+$94.0 million) and Alberta (+$47.5 million).
Non-residential investment was up 0.5 percent to $4.9 billion. Both the commercial (+0.8 percent to $2.8 billion) and institutional (+0.2 percent to $1.1 billion) components edged up. The industrial component (-0.4 percent to $905.4 million) edged down in August.