Increases in both the residential and non-residential sector elevated the total value of building construction investment in April.

Statistics Canada reports that overall investment rose by 2.3% for the month, as the value of investment in the residential sector increased by 3.1%, while the non-residential sector edged up 0.7%.

Year over year, investment in building construction grew 7.8% in April.

In the residential sector, both the multi-unit component (+4.0%) and the single-family component (+2.0%) recorded increases.

British Columbia (+$231.2 million) led the increase in multi-unit construction investment, supported by broad gains across four other provinces and two territories.

Meanwhile, investment in single-family home construction rose $153.1 million to $7.7 billion in April. Growth in Quebec (+$136.0 million) and Ontario (+$83.8 million) was moderated by broad declines across seven provinces and one territory, led by British Columbia (-$23.1 million).

The value of non-residential investment in building construction edged up $49.0 million to $7.1 billion. Increases in the industrial (+3.5%) and commercial (+0.1%) components were moderated by a slight decline in the institutional component (-0.2%).

Investment in the industrial component grew $48.8 million to $1.4 billion in April. Ontario (+$25.8 million), British Columbia (+$16.4 million) and Alberta (+$5.2 million) were the primary contributors to the increase. In total, six provinces and two territories contributed to the growth in this component.

Investment in commercial construction edged up $4.1 million to $3.5 billion in April, led by Alberta (+$10.0 million) and British Columbia (+$3.6 million). The gains in these two provinces were partially offset by declines in Ontario (-$7.9 million) and Quebec (-$1.3 million).

Meanwhile, investment in the institutional component edged down $3.9 million to $2.2 billion in April. Declines in Quebec (-$5.8 million), Manitoba (-$1.6 million) and Nova Scotia (-$1.6 million) were tempered by an increase in Ontario (+$5.3 million).

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