Statistics Canada: Investment in Building Construction, July 2022

Investment in building construction continued its upward trend since October 2021, rising 0.8% to $21.0 billion in July. Both the residential (+1.0% to $15.7 billion) and the non-residential sectors (+0.1% to $5.3 billion) showed increases.

On a constant dollar basis (2012=100), investment in building construction increased 1.4% to $12.8 billion.

Non-residential sector remains unchanged

Investment in non-residential construction nudged up 0.1% to $5.3 billion in July.

Commercial investment was up 0.6% to $3.0 billion for the month, cooling down after posting strong gains in June. Notable growth for the component mainly came from British Columbia (+3.5%), stemming from multiple projects across Vancouver.

At the subcomponent level, new construction for Trade and Services and Warehouses contributed the most to the growth. In July, construction in Trade and Services has surpassed pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, with substantial growth over the previous 12 months. Warehouses have also seen considerable growth, with an increase of 42.0% on an unadjusted basis since March 2021, coinciding with a strong growth in e-commerce and the need for large e-commerce companies to store goods locally for rapid delivery. Conversely, investment in new office buildings, after a temporary bounce back in June 2020, has been on a downward trend ever since, as the work-from-home model became more prevalent and the number of unoccupied offices across Canada continued to increase.

Investment in the industrial component advanced 2.2% to $1.0 billion in July, with gains in seven provinces. Ontario accounted for most of the gains for the component in the month, continuing its considerable growth since December 2021.

Institutional construction investment declined 2.3% to $1.4 billion in July, the largest decline for the component since April 2020.

Minor gains in residential sector

Investment in residential building construction advanced 1.0% to $15.7 billion in July.

Single-family home investment edged up 0.3% to $8.6 billion and has remained relatively stable over the five months ending in July.

Multi-unit construction investment increased 1.8% to $7.1 billion for the month, with apartment projects in Ontario and British Columbia contributing significantly to the gains.

On an unadjusted basis, new construction for both single-family homes and multi-unit construction have shown notable growth in the previous few months and are up 3.9% year over year in July.

For more information on housing, please visit the Housing statistics portal.

Note to Readers

Data are subject to revisions based on late responses, methodological changes and classification updates. Unadjusted data has been revised for the previous month. Seasonally adjusted data has been revised for the previous three months.

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

Monthly estimates in 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 the data 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.

The Trade and Services subcomponent includes buildings such as retail and wholesale outlets, retail complexes and motor vehicle show rooms. More detailed information can be found on the Integrated Metadatabase at Types of Building Structure – 2.2.1 – Trade and services.

Next Release

Data on investment in building construction for August will be released on October 17.

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Statistics Canada has a “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.

Source: Statistics Canada