Building construction investment levels drop by 1% in February

Building construction investment declined by 1.1% in February, as both the residential and non-residential components reported contractions.

Investment totals reached $19.3 billion for the month.

The residential component reported the larger of the two losses, at $157 million, or -1.2% for the month. The total investment for the month was $13.4 billion. February was the second month in a row in which investment values contracted.

The decline was led by Ontario (-$153 million to $5.2 billion). Meanwhile, six provinces, led by Newfoundland and Labrador (+$16 million to $78 million), reported increases.

Investment in detached single-family homes increased 1.3% to $6.7 billion in February, with all provinces and territories apart from Yukon reporting gains.

At the same time, multi-unit investment decreased 3.5% to $6.7 billion, driven by declines in Ontario (-6.0% to $2.6 billion) and Quebec (-4.9% to $1.2 billion) as the pace of new starts slowed from earlier in 2023.

Investment in the non-residential sector, meanwhile, decreased by $52 million (-0.9%) to $6.0 billion in February. Gains in the institutional component (+$29 million to $1.7 billion) were outweighed by declines in industrial (-$4 million to $1.3 billion) and commercial (-$77 million to $3.0 billion) investment.

The decline in commercial investment for February represented the eighth consecutive monthly decline. Seven provinces contributed to the drop.