Statistics Canada: Investment in Building Construction, January 2024

Overall, investment in building construction rose 1.8% (+$393.7 million) to $22.1 billion in January. The residential sector increased 2.3% to $15.4 billion, while the non-residential sector was up 0.8% to $6.7 billion. Year over year, investment in building construction grew 5.7% in January.

On a constant dollar basis (2017=100), investment in building construction increased 1.5% from the previous month to $13.2 billion in January and was up 2.5% year over year.

Ontario’s multi-unit component leads increase in residential sector

Investment in residential building construction increased $342.0 million to $15.4 billion in January. Gains were seen in four provinces and two territories, driven by Ontario (+$354.8 million; +6.3%), while Manitoba (-$61.6 million; -12.3%) led the decline.

Investment in multi-unit construction was up $497.5 million to $8.2 billion in January. Gains were led by Ontario (+$421.0 million).

Single-family home investment declined $155.5 million to $7.2 billion in January, with declines being recorded in eight provinces and one territory.

Non-residential investment continues to reach record highs

Investment in non-residential construction increased $51.7 million to $6.7 billion in January. This marked the sixth consecutive monthly increase. Much of the recent growth stemmed from the institutional and industrial components, which both reached a record high in January.

The institutional component rose $38.8 million to $2.0 billion in January. Gains were recorded in six provinces and three territories, led by Ontario (+$18.3 million) and British Columbia (+$11.5 million). Quebec (-$6.1 million) partially offset these gains, as it recorded its 10th consecutive monthly decrease.

Investment in the industrial component increased $22.5 million to $1.5 billion in January, driven by Ontario (+$15.2 million) and Alberta (+$5.1 million).

Meanwhile, the commercial component decreased $9.5 million to $3.3 billion in January following five consecutive monthly increases. Declines in six provinces and two territories were tempered by growth in Ontario (+$16.3 million).

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Table 34-10-0175 has been archived on the Statistics Canada website and will no longer be updated but may still be viewed.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 February will be released on April 22.

Source: Statistics Canada