Growth streak in residential construction investment ends

Massive deceleration in one province offsets the gains seen in multiple regions

Growth streak in residential construction investment ends

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%).