Building construction investment again reaches $20B
Investment in building construction increased by nearly 2 percent in March and is once again above the $20-billion mark.
Statistics Canada reports that residential construction investment rose for a sixth consecutive month, up 1.7 percent 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 percent to $8.4 billion, with Ontario (+6.2 percent) leading the gains.
The value of multi-unit construction investment decreased 1.4 percent to $6.7 billion in March. The loss ended five months of consecutive growth for the component.
Meanwhile, investment in the non-residential construction sector was up 2.0 percent in March – the sector’s ninth consecutive monthly increase. Quebec accounted for more than half of the gain.
Commercial investment gained 2.4 percent to $2.9 billion, while investment in industrial construction increased 1.9 percent to $910 million, with Ontario (+2.6 percent) and Quebec (+2.7 percent) contributing to the majority of the gains.
Institutional investment rose 1.1 percent to $1.4 billion in March, its third consecutive month of growth.
First quarter investment nears $60B
For the first quarter of the year, the total value of investment in building construction increased 9.2 percent to $59.7 billion. Almost all of the overall gains were in the residential sector, which jumped 11.0 percent to $44.4 billion, while the non-residential sector rose by 4.3 percent to $15.3 billion
Investment in the single-unit residential sector rose 11.2 percent for the quarter to $24.2 billion, with Ontario (+12.6 percent) accounting for half of the quarterly change. The multi-unit component was up 10.9 percent with all provinces.
Investment in the non-residential sector was up 4.3 percent, with all its sub-components increasing compared with the fourth quarter of 2021.
The commercial component, which contributed the most to the non-residential sector, gained 5.1 percent to $8.5 billion, its fifth consecutive quarterly growth. Investments in the industrial component increased 6.1 percent to $2.7 billion, while the institutional component rose 1.5 percent to $4.1 billion.