Investment Steady In Building Construction

Nationally, investment in building construction in October was largely steady, up 0.2 per cent to $20.9 billion, with Ontario accounting for nearly all the gains, says Statistics Canada. Investment in residential building construction was down slightly by 0.1 per cent to $15.4 billion in October. Quebec caused most of this fall, as it continued to decline in this component after peaking in May. Single family home investment decreased 2.3 per cent to $8.2 billion, with nine provinces reporting declines. This was the largest monthly decrease for single family construction since July 2021. Multi-unit construction investment increased 2.5 per cent to $7.2 billion, with Ontario (+8.6 per cent) accounting for most of the growth. Investment in non-residential construction was up 0.9 per cent to $5.5 billion in October, with Ontario (+1.2 per cent) leading the gains in each component. Industrial construction investment rose 1.3 per cent to $1.1 billion for the month and was up 24.4 per cent year over year. Commercial construction investment increased 1.3 per cent to $3.1 billion in October and institutional construction investment edged down 0.3 per cent to $1.4 billion.