According to Statistics Canada, investment in new housing construction totaled $3.7 billion in December, up 5.1 percent from the same month a year earlier.
The largest year-over-year advance occurred in Alberta, followed by British Columbia and Ontario. In Alberta, total investment in new residential building construction was up 16.7 percent to $865 million. British Columbia saw an 11.3 percent increase in spending to $633 million. In Ontario, investment rose 4.0 percent to $1.2 billion. Conversely, Manitoba posted the largest decline (-18.8 percent to $96 million).
At the national level, investment rose in all dwelling types. Single-family dwellings led the increase, with spending up 4.3 percent from December 2013 to $2.0 billion in December 2014. Row houses followed, with a 12.8 percent advance to $337 million. Spending in apartment and apartment-condominium building construction was up 3.3 percent to $1.1 billion, while investment in semi-detached dwellings rose 12.0 percent to $216 million.