Ontario Construction News staff writer
Investment in building construction increased by three per cent in June, reaching $21.4 billion, following a 0.8 per cent increase in May according to a Statistics Canada report.
Residential building construction increasedby 3.8 per cent (+$546.7 million) to $15.0 billion in June. Increases were observed in nine provinces and two territories, with Quebec leading the gains. Ontario also gained (+$73.2 million to $5.6 billion) along with British Columbia (+$58.9 million to $2.5 billion) and Manitoba (+$47.8 million to $0.5 billion).
Multi-unit construction grew by six per cent (+$454.7 million) to $8.1 billion in June, with a gain in Ontario (+$134.7 million to $2.9 billion) and single-family homes increased by 1.4 per cent to $6.9 billion.
Non-residential construction investment increased 0.4 per cent (+$26.3 million) to $6.4 billion in June, with growth led by the commercial sector (+$27.2 million to $3.2 billion). Investment in both the industrial and institutional components remained relatively unchanged.
In the non-residential sector, investment edged up by 0.3 per cent to $19.1 billion in the second quarter, continuing a 14-quarter streak of increases. This growth was driven by a 1.9 per cent rise in institutional investment (+$5.4 billion), while both industrial (-0.6 per cent to $4.1 billion) and commercial (-0.2 per cent to $9.6 billion) investments experienced minor declines.