According to Statistics Canada, total investment in building construction edged up 0.2 percent from November to $13.7 billion in December. Gains in the residential sector (+0.6 percent to $9.4 billion) were offset by declines in the non-residential sector (-0.7 percent to $4.3 billion). On a constant dollar basis (2012=100), investment in building construction also edged up 0.2 percent to $11.6 billion.
The total value of investment in building construction for 2018 rose 2.5 percent to $169.9 billion, following a 7.2 percent increase in 2017.
In the residential sector, investment in single-dwelling construction declined 0.6 percent to $4.8 billion, while investment in multiple dwelling construction (which includes doubles, row homes, and apartments) increased 1.9 percent to $4.6 billion.
Year-over-year, investment in new construction decreased 3.1 percent in December to 4.8 billion dollars on an unadjusted basis, accounting for almost half of all investment in residential building construction (49.4 percent).
This decrease was led by a drop in new construction of single family homes (-$469 million), as well as row homes (-$77 million). These declines were partially offset by increases in new home construction for apartments (+$357 million), cottages (+$33 million) and semi-detached homes (+$4 million).
Investment in all three non-residential components fell, with the largest decline coming from the institutional component (-2.2 percent to $1.0 billion).
Compared with December 2017, investment in new construction decreased 4.8 percent to 2.1 billion dollars on an unadjusted basis and accounted for 46.9 percent of all investment in non-residential building construction.
Compared with a year earlier, new construction of institutional buildings fell by $198 million, and was partially offset by increases in new construction within the commercial (+$65 million) and industrial (+$25 million) components.
The decline in new construction of institutional buildings was largely the result of diminishing levels of investment in maturing projects for hospitals and schools, with fewer new projects to offset these declines.
The total value of investment in building construction for 2018 rose 2.5 percent to $169.8 billion, following a 7.2 percent increase in 2017. The increase in 2018 was primarily due to higher levels of investment in multi-family, commercial and industrial buildings. Six provinces showed an increase in total investment in building construction, led by British Columbia and Quebec. The largest decline was in Alberta, where total investment fell 10.1 percent to $22.4 billion.
While overall investment in residential building construction edged up (+0.3 percent to $116.1 billion), investment in single family homes (-$4.3 billion) continued its downward trend in 2018, and investment in multi-family dwellings rose $4.6 billion. Over the past three years, investment in the multi-family component has been concentrated in Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island.
For 2018 the main driver of growth was an increase in investment in the non-residential sector, up 7.6 percent to $53.7 billion. This increase was led by continued growth in the commercial component (+7.3 percent to $29.3 billion) and a widespread increase in investment in the industrial component (+23.6 percent to $10.0 billion), as every province reported an increase. Among the provinces, Ontario accounted for 45.3 percent of total investment in the industrial component and almost half (49.6 percent) of the total gain for the component in 2018. This increase was led by investment in new construction of transportation/utilities (+87.7 percent) and mining and agriculture (+35.0 percent) buildings.