Investment in building construction holds steady
By Adam Freill
Commercial Construction Industrial Institutional ResidentialOctober numbers indicate a slim rise in national building construction investment, with most gains coming from Ontario.
Investment in non-residential building construction, October 2022. (Source: Statistics Canada, Table 34-10-0175-01–Investment in Building Construction.)
Investment in building construction in Canada held steady in October, reports Statistics Canada. Nationally across all sectors, investment rose by 0.2 per cent, reaching $20.9 billion. Ontario accounting for nearly all the gains. By sector, residential edged down by a tenth of a per cent to $15.4 billion, while the non-residential sector increased almost a full per cent to reach $5.5 billion.
Industrial construction investment rose 1.3 per cent to $1.1 billion for the month and was up more than 24 per cent on a year-over-year basis, riding a wave of 11 consecutive monthly increases. The commercial construction segment was also on the rise, hitting $3.1 billion in October. Overall, seven provinces reported gains and three reported declines. Kelowna and Vancouver each had a new retail project that contributed to the gains in British Columbia. Institutional construction was almost flat, sitting at to $1.4 billion.
In the residential sector, single-family home investment decreased 2.3 per cent to $8.2 billion in October, with nine provinces reporting declines. This was the largest monthly decrease for single family construction since July 2021. Multi-unit construction was on the rise however, posting growth of 2.5 per cent to reach $7.2 billion. Ontario was up 8.6 per cent and accounted for most of the national growth.
