Investment in new housing construction, January 2018
Archived Content
Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.
Released: 2018-03-21
$4,439.7 million
January 2018
9.4% 
(12-month change)
$26.9 million
January 2018
2.0%
(12-month change)
$14.0 million
January 2018
52.6%
(12-month change)
$58.4 million
January 2018
-8.0% 
(12-month change)
$30.9 million
January 2018
19.7%
(12-month change)
$677.2 million
January 2018
25.8%
(12-month change)
$1,795.9 million
January 2018
1.0%
(12-month change)
$107.4 million
January 2018
18.1%
(12-month change)
$82.9 million
January 2018
-7.6%
(12-month change)
$644.6 million
January 2018
14.7%
(12-month change)
$994.7 million
January 2018
14.8%
(12-month change)
$3.2 million
January 2018
-25.5%
(12-month change)
$1.4 million
January 2018
-57.7%
(12-month change)
$2.3 million
January 2018
32.2%
(12-month change)
New housing construction investment totalled $4.4 billion in January, up 9.4% compared with January 2017. Investment was up for all dwelling types.
Spending rose in eight provinces, led by Quebec (+$139.1 million), British Columbia (+$128.3 million) and Alberta (+$82.6 million).
The increase in Quebec was driven by investment in apartment building construction.
In British Columbia, year-over-year gains were posted for all dwelling types, with single homes (+$52.3 million) and apartments (+$52.1 million) accounting for the majority of the increase.
In Alberta, spending increased in every component, led by single homes (+$56.6 million), which accounted for over two-thirds of the increase compared with January 2017.
Chart 1
Investment in new housing construction, by type of dwelling
Spending on apartment buildings continues to lead the national growth
Apartment buildings were the largest contributor to the year-over-year growth in residential construction investment in Canada, up $232.5 million (+16.9%) in January. Expenditures on apartment buildings were up in every province, led by Quebec (+$153.3 million) and followed by British Columbia (+$52.1 million). Apartment building construction accounted for 62.1% of total construction investment in Quebec compared with 49.7% in January 2017.
Investment in row house construction rose $102.3 million (+26.3%) compared with the same period a year earlier. Seven provinces reported gains, led by Ontario (+$62.2 million) and Alberta (+$19.8 million).
Single home construction investment (+0.2%) reported the smallest year-over-year increase since January 2016. Higher investment in single family home construction in Alberta (+$56.6 million) and British Columbia (+$52.3 million) were largely offset by lower investment in Ontario (-$82.3 million). This was the largest year-over-year drop for single family homes in Ontario since October 2009.
Note to readers
Data on investment in new housing construction (including single-family housing, semi-detached housing, row housing, apartments and condominiums) are not seasonally adjusted, and all comparisons in this release are between January 2017 and January 2018.
Data in CANSIM are available at the national and provincial–territorial levels in both current and constant dollars (base year 2007).
With this release, revised data for 2017 are now available.
Unless otherwise specified, the highlights refer to current dollars and are ranked in terms of dollar change rather than percentage change.
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).
- Date modified: