Vancouver’s non-residential construction down $30M after first quarter

Investment spending in Metro Vancouver’s non-residential construction sector dropped 3.4 per cent – from $860 million to $830 million – in the first quarter of 2014 from the fourth quarter of 2013, according to the Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VCRA).

The VCRA based its analysis on Statistics Canada’s Investment in Non-Residential Building Construction report. The decline is primarily attributed to reduced industrial and public spending.

The report also found commercial building construction went down by 1.4 per cent to $580.9 million from $589.4 million; institutional-government decreased 6.7 per cent to $210.6 million from $225.8 million; and industrial building construction investment fell 12.5 per cent to $39.3 million from $44.9 million.

“Commercial building investment has held fairly steady since the beginning of 2013,” says Fiona Famulak, VCRA’s president. “Based on recent building permits issued and the gradual but steady improvement in market conditions, we expect commercial investment spending to continue to hold up.”

VRCA’s overall outlook for 2014 is mixed: gains in commercial construction spending are likely to be offset by reductions on industrial and public buildings.