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Investment in building construction, December 2019

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Released: 2020-02-24

Total investment in building construction

$15.6 billion

December 2019

0.5% increase

(monthly change)

Total investment in building construction edged up 0.5% from November to $15.6 billion in December, with gains in both the residential and non-residential sectors. On a constant dollar basis (2012=100), investment in building construction was largely unchanged at $12.8 billion. The total value of investment increased by 3.4% to $181.8 billion from 2018 to 2019.

For more information on housing, please visit the Housing Statistics Portal.

Chart 1  Chart 1: Investment in building construction
Investment in building construction

Residential investment

Residential investment was up in five provinces in December, with notable gains in Ontario (+2.0% to $4.5 billion) and Alberta (+3.2% to $1.1 billion). Nationally, investment in multi-unit dwellings increased 2.8% to $5.5 billion. Several major apartment projects in Toronto led Ontario gains in multi-unit investment, up 7.2% to $2.3 billion.

Conversely, investment in single-unit dwellings decreased in every province except Alberta, leading to a national decline of 2.3% to $5.1 billion.

Chart 2  Chart 2: Investment in residential building construction
Investment in residential building construction

Infographic 1  Thumbnail for Infographic 1: Residential construction investment, December 2019
Residential construction investment, December 2019

Non-residential investment

Non-residential investment rose in six provinces in December, with notable growth in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba. Alberta declined for the sixth consecutive month, down 1.2% to $695.5 million.

Investment in the institutional component rose 1.1% to $1.1 billion in December. The ongoing addition to the Université de Montréal hospital centre, and several major institutional housing projects, led to strong increases in Quebec.

Investment in the industrial component increased 1.6% to $923.0 million, with notable gains in Ontario (+$7.7 million), Quebec (+$4.9 million) and British Columbia (+$4.1 million).

The commercial component increased for the 23rd consecutive month, edging up 0.3% to $2.9 billion in December.

Infographic 2  Thumbnail for Infographic 2: Non-residential construction investment, December 2019
Non-residential construction investment, December 2019

Annual review of 2019

The total value of investment in building construction for 2019 increased by 3.4% to $181.8 billion. Investment increased in six provinces, with substantial gains in Quebec (+10.7% to $38.6 billion), British Columbia (+10.3% to $32.6 billion) and Ontario (+1.8% to $71.7 billion).

Prince Edward Island reported the highest percentage growth in 2019, increasing 50.9% to $851.7 million. The rising population contributed to a significant increase in the residential sector, increasing in both multi-unit investment (+162.7% to $199.3 million) and single-unit investment (+34.8% to $475.0 million).

Investment in construction for Alberta fell in 2019, dropping $2.5 billion from 2018. Declines in the residential sector constituted the majority of this, down $2.1 billion to $11.7 billion, while non-residential investment declined by $400.6 million to $8.9 billion.

Nationally, investment in residential construction increased 2.3% to $123.9 billion in 2019. Multi-unit investment continued to grow, up 11.8% to $62.6 billion, while single-unit investment declined for back-to-back years, down 5.9% to $61.3 billion. Increases in Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec led investment in multi-unit to surpass single-unit construction for the first time on an annual basis. Increased investment in apartments (+12.7% to $50.2 billion) and row homes (+9.8% to $8.2 billion), along with decreased investment in single homes (-6.5% to $57.5 billion), broadly reflected a national shift toward the intensification of urban areas.

Investment in the non-residential sector increased in seven provinces in 2019, up 6.0% to $57.9 billion. Growth in commercial investment (+11.3% to $33.5 billion) and industrial investment (+5.6% to $10.8 billion) more than offset declines in the institutional component (-4.8% to $13.6 billion). Quebec and British Columbia combined for over 90% of non-residential growth, primarily due to an increase in commercial investment. Nationally, investment in office buildings had the strongest growth, up 16.3% to $11.6 billion, while schools and education buildings reported the largest decrease, down 15.5% to $6.3 billion in 2019.

Infographic 3  Thumbnail for Infographic 3: Residential construction investment, 2019
Residential construction investment, 2019

Infographic 4  Thumbnail for Infographic 4: Non-residential construction investment, 2019
Non-residential construction investment, 2019

  Note to readers

Unadjusted data for the current reference month are subject to revision as a result of late responses. Data for the previous month have been revised. Seasonally adjusted data are revised for the previous two months.

Data presented in this release are seasonally adjusted and are expressed in current dollars unless otherwise stated. Using seasonally adjusted data facilitates month-to-month comparisons by removing the effects of seasonal variations. For information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.

Monthly estimates for constant dollars are calculated using quarterly deflators from the Building Construction Price Index (table 18-10-0135-01). Typically, the first two months of a quarter use the previous quarter's price level and are revised when the new quarterly price index becomes available.

Detailed data on investment activity by type of building and type of work are now available in the unadjusted current dollar series.

As a result of data source constraints, the total value for "type of work – all" may not equal the sum of its parts ("new construction," "renovation," "conversion," and "other"). The component required to complete the summation is "type of structure, minor."

In the type of work series "conversions total," one or more residential dwelling units are created from an existing structure. Deconversions, garages and carports, as well as in-ground swimming pools, are grouped together in the "other types of work" category.

Prior to January 2018, building permits for cottages with a value greater than $60,000 were automatically reclassified to structure type "single." Beginning in January 2018, building permits received from municipalities for structures coded as cottages, regardless of value, are classified to structure type "cottages."

Effective November 23, 2018, table 34-10-0175-01 contains data on both the residential and non-residential sectors. It replaced tables 34-10-0010-01, 34-10-0011-01 and 34-10-0012-01.

Products

Statistics Canada has a new Housing Market Indicators Dashboard. This web application provides access to key housing market indicators for Canada, by province and by census metropolitan area. These indicators are automatically updated with new information from monthly releases, giving users access to the latest data.

Next release

Data on investment in building construction for January will be released on March 23.

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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