Building construction investment continues to rise in March
By Adam Freill
Commercial Construction Industrial Institutional ResidentialGains continue to be felt in both the residential and non-residential segments.
Investment in non-residential building construction, March 2022. (Source: Statistics Canada, Table 34-10-0175-01)
Statistics Canada is reporting investment in building construction rose on a month-to-month basis in March, increasing by 1.8 per cent over February to reach $20.3 billion. Gains were reported in both the residential and non-residential sectors.
Non-residential investment continues to show strength, rising two per cent over February’s results, a ninth consecutive monthly increase.
Commercial investment gained 2.4 per cent to $2.9 billion. All provinces reported growth, led by Quebec as a retail development in Mount Royal was the largest contributor to the increase in this component.
Investment in industrial construction increased 1.9 per cent to $910 million, with Ontario and Quebec being the leading contributors to the of gains.
Institutional investment rose 1.1 per cent to $1.4 billion, a third consecutive month of growth. Much of this increase reflected the early stages of a hospital project in Quebec City.
On the residential side, construction investment rose for a sixth consecutive month, jumping 1.7 per cent to $15.1 billion. Ontario contributed about three-quarters of the monthly increase, bringing the national total to just below the record high reached in April 2021.
Investment in single family homes increased 4.3 per cent to $8.4 billion, while multi-unit construction investment was off 1.4 per cent to $6.7 billion, ending five months of consecutive growth for the component.
The total value of investment in building construction increased 9.2 per cent to $59.7 billion in the first quarter of 2022. Almost all of the quarter’s gains were in the residential sector, which jumped 11 per cent to $44.4 billion. The non-residential sector had a more modest rise of 4.3 per cent, reaching $15.3 billion, although all non-residential sub-components rose for the quarter.
The commercial component, which contributed the most to the non-residential sector, gained 5.1 per cent to $8.5 billion; the industrial component increased 6.1 per cent to $2.7 billion; and the institutional component rose 1.5 per cent to $4.1 billion.
