Investment in new housing construction, January 2016
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Released: 2016-03-21
Investment in new residential building construction increased 3.9% year over year to $3.7 billion in January.
Chart 1
Investment in new housing construction, by type of dwelling
Nationally, the increase was driven by higher spending on apartment and apartment-condominium buildings (+19.9%) and row houses (+7.6%) in January. Conversely, investment in single-family dwellings fell 4.0% from January 2015, and spending on semi-detached buildings decreased 16.4%.
Increases in new housing construction investment were recorded in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.
Spending in Ontario increased 23.4% year over year to $1.5 billion in January. This gain was attributable to higher spending on single-family dwellings, apartment and apartment-condominium buildings, and row houses. Construction spending for semi-detached buildings posted a decline.
British Columbia became the second largest provincial contributor of investment in new housing construction in January, as spending rose 14.3% compared with the same month a year earlier to $695 million. This increase was mainly driven by investment in apartment and apartment-condominium buildings. Investment in single-family dwellings and row houses also contributed to the advance, while spending on semi-detached buildings declined.
In Quebec, investment in new housing construction totalled $512 million in January, up 1.1% compared with January 2015. This gain was the result of increased spending on apartment and apartment-condominium buildings, which more than offset lower investment in single-family buildings, semi-detached dwellings and row houses.
Investment in new housing construction declined in the remaining provinces in January compared with January 2015, with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba registering the largest decreases. In Alberta, spending decreased in all dwelling types except apartment and apartment-condominium buildings, which rose 22.5% to $195 million.
Note to readers
Data on investment in new housing construction (including single-family dwellings, semi-detached dwellings, row housing, apartments and condominiums) are not seasonally adjusted and all comparisons in this release are between January 2015 and January 2016.
Data in CANSIM are available at the national and provincial–territorial levels, in both current and constant dollars (base year 2007).
Unless otherwise specified, the highlights refer to current dollars and are ranked in terms of dollar change rather than percentage change.
Contact information
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To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Bechir Oueriemmi (613-951-1165; bechir.oueriemmi@canada.ca), Investment, Science and Technology Division.
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