June 17, 2024 – Investment in building construction took a dive across both non-residential and residential sectors overall, although many individual components saw growth.

Investment in non-residential construction edged down by $31.2 million (-0.5%) to $6.3 billion in April, reports Statistics Canada.

Declines in the industrial (-1.4%, -$19.5 million) and commercial (-0.7%, -$23.2 million) components were partially offset by a slight increase in the institutional component (+0.6%, +$11.4 million).

In April, seven of the 13 provinces and territories reported gains in institutional construction investment, with Manitoba (+10.2%, +$7.4 million) leading the way.

This was the 15th consecutive monthly increase for Manitoba. On a year-over-year basis, the value of institutional construction investment in Manitoba nearly doubled, from $40 million in April 2023 to $79.8 million in April 2024.

Investment in residential building construction decreased by $386.7 million (-2.7%) to $14.2 billion in April.

Monthly declines were recorded in 9 of the 13 provinces and territories in April, led by Ontario (-$123.9 million to $5.5 billion) and Alberta (-$118.4 million to $1.7 billion).

These declines were tempered by increases in the remaining provinces and territories, led by Saskatchewan (+$33.7 million to $287.1 million).

Across Canada, single-family home investment fell 4.7% to $6.9 billion in April. Saskatchewan (+17.7%; +$29.8 million) was the only province to report an increase in this category.

Multi-unit family investment was down 0.6% to $7.3 billion in April. Decreases were observed in six provinces and one territory. Much of the decline was offset by gains in Nova Scotia (+10.5%, +$17.6 million) and Quebec (+1.1%, +$14.1 million).