Ontario Construction News staff writer
Investment in building construction declined 1.2 per cent to $19.9 billion in May, according to a new Statistics Canada report released last week. The residential sector decreased 1.7 per cent to $14.0 billion, while the non-residential sector was unchanged at $5.9 billion.
Investment in residential building construction decreased 1.7% month over month to $14.0 billion in May. The decline in May brought Alberta down to its lowest level since December 2020. This was also the province’s ninth consecutive monthly decrease.
At a national level, single family home investment fell 2.9 per cent to $7.4 billion in May 2023 with seven provinces posted declines.
Multi-unit construction was down 0.3 per cent to $6.7 billion, with Quebec (-5.0 per cent; -$60.1 million) behind much of the fall as it continued to decline since its peak in May 2022.
Investment in industrial construction was down 0.4 per cent to $1.2 billion in May 2023, mostly due to Quebec (-3.2 per cent; -$11.9 million), which saw an interruption to 20 consecutive months of growth in that province.
Also, at a national level, commercial construction investment edged down 0.2 per cent to $3.2 billion and institutional was up 0.6 per cent to $1.4 billion, with Ontario (+2.9 per cent; +$15.4 million) leading the gains.
