Investment in non-residential building construction, third quarter 2012
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Investment in non-residential building construction rose 0.6% from the second quarter to $12.1 billion in the third quarter. This was the third consecutive quarterly gain. Growth in the industrial and commercial components was offset by a decline in institutional investment.
Investment in non-residential building construction
Chart description: Investment in non-residential building construction
Total investment rose in six provinces in the third quarter, with the largest increases in Quebec and British Columbia.
In Quebec, the gain was led by the institutional component, while in British Columbia, it was mostly in the commercial component.
Total investment declined in Newfoundland and Labrador and Ontario. Institutional investment was down in both provinces, while industrial investment fell in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Census metropolitan areas
Investment rose in 16 of 34 census metropolitan areas (CMAs), with the largest increases in Montréal, Vancouver and Calgary. All three components were up in all three CMAs. The gain in Montréal was attributable to institutional investment, while in Vancouver most of the increase was in the commercial component.
The largest decreases occurred in Edmonton and Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo. In Edmonton, most of the decline occurred in commercial investment. All three components fell in Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo.
Commercial component
Investment in commercial building construction rose 1.0% from the second quarter to $7.3 billion. This was the fourth consecutive quarterly increase. The gain in the third quarter mainly reflected higher spending in the construction of retail and wholesale outlets, warehouses and restaurants in eight provinces.
The largest increase was in British Columbia, where commercial investment rose 6.0% to $819 million, led by construction of office buildings and retail and wholesale outlets.
In Ontario, investment rose 1.0% to $2.6 billion, led by higher investment in retail and wholesale building construction.
The largest decrease was in Alberta, where a 2.5% decline in the third quarter followed nine consecutive quarters of growth. Commercial investment in Alberta amounted to $1.7 billion.
Commercial, institutional and industrial components
Chart description: Commercial, institutional and industrial components
Industrial component
Industrial investment rose 6.0% to $1.6 billion in the third quarter, on the strength of higher investment in several categories of industrial building. This was the fourth consecutive quarterly gain. Spending was higher in nine provinces, with the largest increases in Ontario and Alberta.
Ontario led with a 7.2% increase to $550 million, attributable to higher investment in primary industries. In Alberta, investment rose 8.0% to $387 million, largely as a result of utility buildings.
The largest decline occurred in Newfoundland and Labrador, where investment fell 22.3% to $61 million. This reflected the near completion of certain large projects.
Institutional component
In the institutional component, investment fell 2.8% to $3.2 billion, the seventh consecutive quarterly decrease. The decline in the third quarter was mostly attributable to lower investment in health care facilities and other government buildings. Institutional investment declined in seven provinces.
The largest decrease occurred in Ontario, where investment fell by 4.6% to $1.7 billion, as spending declined for educational buildings and health care facilities. Some large new projects are starting in Ontario, and this investment will be reflected in future quarters.
The largest increase was in Quebec, where institutional spending rose 7.2% to $537 million, mostly as a result of higher investment for educational facilities.
Note to readers
Unless otherwise stated, this release presents seasonally adjusted data expressed in current dollars, which facilitates comparisons by removing the effects of seasonal variations. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonal adjustment and identifying economic trends.
Investments in non-residential building construction exclude engineering construction (such as for highways, sewers, bridges and oil and gas pipelines). This series is based on the Building Permits Survey of municipalities, which collects information on construction intentions.
Work put-in-place patterns are assigned to each type of structure (industrial, commercial and institutional). These work patterns are used to distribute the value of building permits according to project length. Work put-in-place patterns differ according to the value of the construction project; a project worth several million dollars will usually take longer to complete than will a project of a few hundred thousand dollars.
Additional data from the Capital and Repair Expenditures Survey are used to create this investment series. Investments in non-residential building data are benchmarked to Statistics Canada's System of National Accounts of non-residential building investment series.
For the purpose of this release, the census metropolitan area of Ottawa–Gatineau (Ontario/Quebec) is divided into two areas: the Ottawa part and the Gatineau part.
Revision
Following the release of the historical revisions of the "Canadian economic accounts" at the beginning of October 2012, data have also been revised on investment in non-residential building from the first quarter of 1997 to the second quarter of 2012.
In addition, the price indexes of non-residential building construction investment have been converted from reference year 2002 to reference year 2007.
Revised data are available on CANSIM free of charge.
Available without charge in CANSIM: table CANSIM table026-0016.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number survey number5014.
For more information, contact Statistics Canada's National Contact Centre (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 613-951-8116; infostats@statcan.gc.ca).
To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Don Overton (613-951-1239), Investment, Science and Technology Division.
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