Residential construction Up 3.3% in Q3

December 10, 2015

The total value of investment in residential construction rose 3.3% to $31.9 billion in the third quarter compared with the same quarter a year earlier. This marked the seventh consecutive year-over-year quarterly growth.

Investment in apartment and apartment-condominium building construction (up 21.5% to $4.7 billion), acquisition costs related to new dwelling units built (up 7.4% to $3.6 billion), renovation spending (up 1.3% to $14.1 billion) and spending on converted dwelling units (up 76.9% to $385 million) accounted for most of the national advance.

Residential construction investment increased in five provinces in the third quarter. Ontario reported the largest gain, followed by British Columbia and Quebec.

In Ontario, investment grew 9.5% to $12.2 billion in the third quarter compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Spending on single-family dwelling construction, apartment and apartment-condominium building construction and renovation work, as well as acquisition costs related to new dwelling units built were responsible for much of the increase.

In British Columbia, residential construction investment rose 5.2% to $4.5 billion in the third quarter. The advance occurred mainly as a result of higher investment in apartment and apartment-condominium building and single-family dwelling construction, as well as higher acquisition costs.

In Quebec, investment in residential construction increased 3.0% to $6.7 billion. Spending on renovation work, converted dwelling units and apartment and apartment-condominium building construction was sufficiently large to offset decreased investment in single-family housing and lower acquisition costs associated with new dwelling units completed.

Saskatchewan registered the largest decrease, followed by Alberta and Manitoba.

In Saskatchewan, investment totalled $981 million in the third quarter, down 16.6% from the third quarter of 2014. The drop was mostly the result of lower spending on single-family dwelling construction and lower acquisition costs.
In Alberta, construction spending decreased 3.4% to $4.8 billion in the third quarter. Lower investment in single-family dwelling construction offset higher spending on apartment and apartment-condominium buildings, renovation work and row housing, as well as increased acquisition costs.

In Manitoba, investment in residential construction declined 14.0% from the third quarter of 2014 to $901 million in the third quarter. The decline was attributable to lower investment in single housing construction and renovation work.
Table 1: Residential construction investment

Source: Statistics Canada, www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/151203/dq151203e-eng.htm.