Non-Res construction price index on the rise, StatsCan reports

The composite price index for non-residential building construction rose 0.5 per cent in the second quarter compared with the previous quarter, according to the latest report from Statistics Canada.

This increase was mainly due to higher material prices and labour costs, says StatsCan.

All seven census metropolitan areas (CMAs) surveyed were up with Ottawa–Gatineau, Ontario part (+0.9 per cent) posting the largest increase, followed by Halifax (+0.7 per cent). Calgary (+0.3 per cent) posted the smallest increase.

Year-over-year, the composite price index for non-residential building construction was up 1.1 per cent. Of the CMAs included in the survey, Toronto (+1.8 per cent) recorded the largest year-over-year increase, while Edmonton (-0.1 per cent) recorded the lone decline compared with the second quarter of 2014.

Click here for the detailed report from Statistics Canada. 

The Non-residential Building Construction Price Index is a quarterly series that measures changes in contractors’ selling prices of new non-residential building construction in seven census metropolitan areas: Halifax, Montréal, Ottawa–Gatineau (Ontario part), Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Three classes of structures are covered: commercial, industrial, and institutional.

Selling prices include costs of materials, labour, equipment, provincial sales taxes where applicable, and contractors’ overhead and profit. The cost of land, land assembly, design and development as well as real estate fees are excluded. Value added taxes such as the Federal Goods and Services Tax and the Harmonized Sales Tax are excluded.

With each release, data for the previous quarter may have been revised. The index is not seasonally adjusted.

With each second quarter data release, the annual weights of the index have been updated.