Massive deceleration in one province offsets the gains seen in multiple regions
Total investment in building construction across Canada ticked up by 0.3% to reach $20.8 billion in June, with the same period seeing the end of a robust nine-month streak of growth in the residential segment.
Residential construction investment fell by 0.4% to settle at $15.5 billion in June, with deceleration in Quebec (down by 6.7%) outweighing the gains seen in six provinces.
Multi-unit construction investment declined by 1.6% to $6.9 billion in June. However, single-family investment continues to outpace the multi-unit sector, with a 0.7% increase to $8.6 billion in June.
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A notable 2.4% gain in the non-residential sector (up to $5.3 billion) bolstered overall investment for that month.
“The majority of strength for the month came from Ontario, reporting gains in all building components following a weak May resulting from a construction workers’ strike in the province,” StatCan said.
Commercial investment spearheaded this advance with a 2.7% increase to $3 billion, while industrial investment had a proportionally larger 3.7% gain to reach $974 million – its greatest monthly value increase since the height of the pandemic in May 2020.
Institutional construction investment had a more modest increase of 0.7% to reach $1.4 billion, spurred by gains in six provinces, especially Ontario (up by 3.8%).
