Building construction investment drops 1.4% in November

Investment in building construction declined 1.4% to $20.4 billion in November, with Alberta in particular experiencing a challenging month.

Statistics Canada reports that investment in residential building construction was down 2.0% to $14.9 billion. November marked the third consecutive decline in the sector. At -7.1%, Alberta experienced its largest drop in residential investment since the COVID-19 downturn in April 2020.

Investment in single-family homes fell for the fourth consecutive month, down 3.9% to $7.8 billion in November, with all provinces reporting declines. The decline brought the single-family component back down to levels last seen in December 2021.

Multi-unit family investment remained relatively unchanged. The value edged up 0.1% to $7.1 billion, despite notable gains from Manitoba (+16.4%) which helped offset declines in six provinces.

Investment in non-residential construction, meanwhile, was up 0.2% to $5.5 billion in November. Ontario (+1.3%) accounted for most of the growth, with gains in each component.

Industrial construction investment increased 0.9% to $1.1 billion and was up 25.5% year over year. November marked the 12th consecutive monthly increase in this component.

At the subcomponent level, mining and agriculture buildings surpassed pre-pandemic levels, with substantial growth over the previous 12 months (+79.8%). The factories subcomponent has also seen considerable growth, with an increase of 33.8% on an unadjusted basis since November 2021. Conversely, the transportation subcomponent was down 6.3% year over year on an unadjusted basis.

Commercial construction investment edged up 0.1% to $3.1 billion in November 2022 and was up 13.5% year over year.

Finally, institutional construction investment remained flat in the month at $1.4 billion and has stayed around this value after reaching its historic peak in April.