Statistics Canada: Investment in Building Construction, December 2024

Overall, investment in building construction rose 1.9% (+$408.1 million) to $21.8 billion in December, with gains recorded across all components. The residential sector grew 2.2% to $15.1 billion while the non-residential sector was up 1.3% to $6.7 billion. Year over year, investment in building construction grew 4.7% in December.

On a constant dollar basis (2017=100), investment in building construction increased 1.5% from the previous month to $13.0 billion in December and was up 1.6% year over year.

Multi-unit component drives residential sector gains in December

Investment in residential building construction was up 2.2% (+$323.9 million) to $15.1 billion in December.

Single family home investment edged up 0.8% (+$60.7 million) to $7.3 billion in December, marking its fifth consecutive monthly increase.

Investment in multi-unit construction rose 3.5% (+$263.2 million) to $7.7 billion in December, rebounding from two significant and consecutive monthly declines.

Ontario leads growth in non-residential investment

Investment in non-residential construction increased 1.3% (+$84.1 million) to $6.7 billion in December. Monthly increases were recorded in eight provinces and one territory, with Ontario (+$54.3 million) leading the growth and marking its 10th straight monthly increase.

The industrial component was up 1.8% (+$26.2 million) to $1.5 billion in December. Quebec (+$15.9 million) led the growth, followed by six other provinces and two territories.

Commercial construction investment edged up 0.6% (+$20.2 million) to $3.3 billion in December. Gains in Ontario (+$24.9 million) were tempered by decreases in Alberta (-$10.6 million) and British Columbia (-$3.3 million).

In December, institutional construction investment rose 2.0% (+$37.7 million) to $1.9 billion with seven provinces and the three territories recording increases. Quebec (-$12.5 million) drove the monthly declines across the remaining three provinces.

Fourth quarter summary

Investment in building construction grew 1.0% (+$654.1 million) to $64.5 billion in the fourth quarter, marking the sixth consecutive quarterly increase.

The quarterly increase in investment in building construction in the fourth quarter was primarily led by the non-residential sector (+$580.7 million to $19.8 billion), which accounted for 88.9% of the total growth in the quarter. The institutional (+$244.8 million to $5.7 billion) and industrial (+$224.6 million to $4.3 billion) components drove the increase in the non-residential sector, while the commercial component (+$111.3 million to $9.8 billion) contributed less to the increase.

Investment in the residential sector edged up 0.2% to $44.8 billion in the fourth quarter. Growth in single family home investment (+$1.3 billion to $21.7 billion) was almost entirely offset by declines in the multi-unit component (-$1.2 billion to $23.1 billion).

Annual summary for 2024

Year over year, investment in building construction rose 5.8% to $253.8 billion in 2024. On a constant dollar basis (2017=100), the total value of investment in building construction increased 2.4% to $154.1 billion for the year. Despite these gains, the total value of investment in building construction in constant dollars remained below the record high level reached in 2021 ($171.9 billion).

The remainder of this release will use constant dollars (2017=100) to highlight real annual changes in the investment in building construction value.

Residential sector investment rose 3.0% to $102.4 billion in 2024, driven by the multi-dwelling component (+9.3% to $54.6 billion) following two consecutive annual decreases. Meanwhile, investment in single family homes decreased 3.3% to $47.8 billion, marking the lowest level on record for the series.

Investment in the non-residential sector increased 1.1% to $51.7 billion in 2024.

The industrial component was up 4.4% (+$440.7 million) to $10.5 billion, reaching a record high in 2024. Gains were observed in six provinces and two territories, led by Ontario (+$397.6 million) and Alberta (+$228.5 million).

Institutional construction investment rose 9.7% (+$1.3 billion) to $15.3 billion in 2024, marking the fifth consecutive annual growth. Ontario (+$930.1 million) saw the largest gain, followed by British Columbia (+$356.6 million) and five other provinces.

Investment in the commercial component tempered the gains in the industrial and institutional components, decreasing 4.5% (-$1.2 billion) to $25.9 billion in 2024.

For more information on construction, please visit the Construction statistics portal.

For more information on housing, please visit the Housing statistics portal.

Note to readers

Table 34-10-0175 has been archived on the Statistics Canada website and will no longer be updated but may still be viewed. The successor table is 34-10-0286, and the information from January 2017 onwards that was in table 34-10-0175 is still available in the new table, except for the constant dollar series, which has been rebased to 2017=100. Constant dollar data for January and February 2017 represent an average between the old base year (2012=100) and the new base year (2017=100) and should be used with caution. The 2017 data series will be backcasted and the figures will be revised with the release of our annual revision.

Data are subject to revisions based on late responses, delayed construction start dates for large projects, methodological changes, classification updates, price index updates for constant dollar series, benchmarking and adjustments to ad hoc macroeconomic events. Unadjusted data have been revised back to January 2023. Seasonally adjusted data have been revised back to January 2017.

Data presented in this release are seasonally adjusted with current dollar values unless otherwise stated. Using seasonally adjusted data allows month-to-month and quarter-to-quarter comparisons by removing the effects of seasonal variations. For information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data—Frequently asked questions.

Monthly estimates for constant dollars are calculated using quarterly deflators from the Building Construction Price Index (18-10-0276-01). The monthly indexes used for the deflation process were part of a methodology review to increase the quality of the constant dollar and seasonally adjusted series. The indexes previously displayed a step pattern because of less frequent collection.

Detailed data on investment activity by type of building and type of work are now available in the unadjusted current dollar series.

The trade and services subcomponent includes buildings such as retail and wholesale outlets, retail complexes and motor vehicle show rooms. More detailed information can be found on the Integrated Metadatabase at Types of Building Structure – 2.2.1 – Trade and services.

Next release

Data on investment in building construction for January 2025 will be released on March 17.

Products

Statistics Canada has a “Housing Market Indicators” dashboard. This web application provides access to key housing market indicators for Canada, by province and census metropolitan area. These indicators are automatically updated with new information from monthly releases, giving users access to the latest data.

Source: Statistics Canada