The Daily. Tuesday, August 14, 2001

Apartment Building Construction Price Index

The composite price index for apartment building construction (1992=100) was 121.6 in the second quarter, up 0.7% over the first quarter of 2001 and up 3.0% compared with the second quarter of 2000.

The highest quarterly change was recorded in Montréal, Ottawa and Toronto (all three at +0.9%), followed by Calgary (+0.6%), Halifax and Edmonton (both at +0.5%) and Vancouver (+0.3%).

Toronto and Calgary saw the highest year-over-year gain compared with the second quarter of 2000 (both +4.2%), followed by Ottawa (+4.0%), Edmonton (+3.7%), Montréal (+1.9%), Vancouver (+1.8%) and Halifax (+1.1%).

Apartment Building Construction Price Indexes

(1992=100)

Note: The Apartment Building Construction Price Indexes provide an indication of new construction cost changes in seven major urban areas across Canada (Halifax, Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver). Besides each of the urban areas' indexes and the composite index, there are further breakdowns of cost changes by trade groups within the building (structural, architectural, mechanical and electrical). These price indexes are derived from surveys of general and special trade-group contractors who report on the categories of costs (material, labour, equipment, taxes, overhead and profits) relevant to the detailed construction specifications included in the surveys.

Available on CANSIM: table 3270002 and matrix 9932.

The second quarter 2001 issue of Construction price statistics (62-007-XPB, $24/$79) will be available in September.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods and data quality of this release, contact Louise Chaîné (613-951-9606; fax: 613-951-1539; infounit@statcan.gc.ca), Prices Division.