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Non-residential Building Construction Price Index, third quarter 2017

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Released: 2017-11-14

Contractors' prices for new non-residential building construction rose 0.6% in the third quarter compared with the previous quarter. Prices have increased across industrial, commercial and institutional building structure types since the fourth quarter of 2015.

Prices for new non-residential building construction were up in all seven census metropolitan areas (CMA) surveyed. Prices rose the most in Vancouver and Montréal (both up 1.0%). Contractors working in Vancouver reported a rise in the costs for architectural and structural building components due to higher material costs and a shortage of skilled labour.

Contractors in all seven CMAs surveyed reported higher prices for lumber in the third quarter, coinciding with the forest fires in British Columbia. According to the Industrial Product Price Index, prices for lumber and other sawmill products rose 4.1% from June to September 2017.

Non-residential Building Construction Price Index, year-over-year change

Contractors' prices for new non-residential building construction increased 2.9% over the four quarters ending in September, led by higher prices in Vancouver (+5.4%) and Montréal (+4.2%).

Since the beginning of 2017, the year-over-year price increases reported by contractors in these two CMAs have in part reflected higher prices for drywall and concrete. From January to September 2017, the Industrial Product Price Index recorded a 2.1% price increase for ready-mixed concrete nationally.


  Note to readers

The Non-residential Building Construction Price Index is a quarterly series that measures the changes in contractors' selling prices of new non-residential building construction in seven census metropolitan areas: Halifax, Montréal, Ottawa–Gatineau (Ontario part), Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Three classes of structures are covered: commercial, industrial and institutional.

Selling prices include the costs of materials, labour and equipment, provincial sales taxes where applicable, and contractors' overhead and profit. The costs of land, land assembly, design and development, as well as real estate fees, are excluded. Value added taxes such as the federal Goods and Services Tax and the harmonized sales tax are excluded.

With each release, data for the previous quarter may have been revised. The index is not seasonally adjusted.

A Historical Timeline of Canadian Producer Price Statistics

To celebrate Canada 150, A Historical Timeline of Canadian Producer Price Statistics, which is part of Statistics Canada — Infographics (Catalogue number11-627-M), was created to showcase the key milestones in the history of Canadian producer price statistics. This historical timeline contains answers to questions such as: Who collected Canada's first statistics? What do Canadian producer price indexes measure?

Infographic: Producer Price Indexes at a Glance

The infographic "Producer Price Indexes at a Glance," which is part of Statistics Canada — Infographics (Catalogue number11-627-M), demonstrates how producer price indexes for goods and services are calculated and why they are important for the Canadian economy.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).

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