According to Statistics Canada, investment in new housing construction increased 6.3 percent in June compared with the same month a year earlier to $5.0 billion. The year-over-year increase was mainly attributable to higher spending on apartment building construction, while investment in single family homes declined for the fourth consecutive month.
Spending was up in seven provinces, led by Quebec (+$206.0 million), British Columbia (+$76.0 million) and Ontario (+$46.3 million). In all three provinces, the increase was led by investment in apartment building construction.
In Quebec, investment was up for three components; apartments (+$191.5 million), single homes (+$7.8 million) and semi-detached homes (+$6.6 million), while investment in row home construction was largely unchanged compared with June 2017.
Multiple-unit construction was the sole driver behind the growth in British Columbia. For the first time since March 2017, the province reported a year-over-year decrease in spending on single home construction, down 1.4 percent or $6.1 million compared with June 2017.
Ontario reported a notable increase in spending for apartments (+$156.8 million), which was mostly offset by lower spending on single home (-$101.8 million) and row home (-$9.3 million) construction.
In Prince Edward Island, spending was up $7.5 million or 50.9 percent compared with June 2017, with growth across all building types, led by apartment building construction and single homes.
Spending was down in Saskatchewan (-$23.7 million), Alberta (-$19.3 million) and Manitoba (-$5.1 million), reflecting lower spending on single home construction.
Despite the continuing year-over-year decline in spending on single family homes, investment in construction for this building type continued to account for the majority of investment in every province except Quebec and British Columbia. Investment in single homes accounted for 33.8 percent of total investment in Quebec and 39.7 percent in British Columbia.