Statistics Canada: Investment in Building Construction, February 2025

Overall, investment in building construction rose 1.5% (+$331.7 million) to $22.4 billion in February, with gains being recorded across all components. The residential sector increased 1.8% to $15.7 billion, while the non-residential sector was up 0.8% to $6.8 billion. Year over year, investment in building construction grew 8.9% in February.

On a constant dollar basis (2017=100), investment in building construction increased 1.2% from the previous month to $13.4 billion in February and was up 5.6% year over year.

Ontario leads residential sector increase

Investment in residential building construction increased $277.5 million to $15.7 billion in February.

Investment in multi-unit construction rose $241.5 million to $8.4 billion in February, largely attributable to gains in Ontario (+$357.8 million) and British Columbia (+$53.1 million). Meanwhile, Alberta (-$62.7 million) and Nova Scotia (-$41.5 million) led the declines, along with four other provinces and three territories.

Single-family home investment was up $36.0 million to $7.3 billion in February. Gains in Quebec (+$48.2 million) and four other provinces were mitigated by decreases recorded in the remaining provinces and territories.

Institutional component drives non-residential gains

Investment in non-residential construction increased $54.2 million to $6.8 billion in February, with gains being spread across its three components: institutional (+$26.7 million), commercial (+$15.1 million) and industrial (+$12.4 million).

Investment in the institutional component grew $26.7 million to $2.0 billion in February, marking the eighth consecutive monthly increase. The growth was driven by Ontario (+$18.7 million) and supported by gains in eight other provinces and two territories. Of the two provinces and one territory that recorded declines, Quebec (-$9.4 million) had the largest decrease.

Commercial construction investment was up $15.1 million to $3.3 billion in February. Gains in Ontario (+$16.4 million) and New Brunswick (+$7.7 million) were slightly offset by declines in Quebec (-$8.6 million) and British Columbia (-$7.1 million).

The industrial component rose $12.4 million to $1.5 billion in February. Growth was recorded in seven provinces and two territories, with Ontario (+$7.2 million) leading the way.

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 March will be released on May 26.

Source: Statistics Canada