Investment in new housing construction, May 2016
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Released: 2016-07-21
Spending on new housing construction totalled $4.2 billion in May, up 5.0% from the same month a year earlier.
Chart 1
Investment in new housing construction, by type of dwelling
The increase at the national level came mainly from higher investment in apartment and apartment-condominium building construction, up 17.2% year over year to $1.5 billion. Spending on row house construction also contributed to the advance, up 13.4% to $454 million.
In contrast, investment in single-family dwellings was $2.0 billion, 2.6% lower than in May 2015, while spending on semi-detached dwelling construction declined 10.7% to $206 million.
At the provincial level, the largest increases in new housing investment were recorded in Ontario and British Columbia.
In Ontario, investment rose 24.3% from the same month a year earlier to $1.7 billion in May. The increase resulted from higher construction spending on all dwelling types. Construction investment in single-family dwellings led the advance, rising 25.8% to $886 million.
Spending in British Columbia increased 31.9% year over year to $937 million in May. This gain was attributable to higher spending on apartment and apartment-condominium buildings, single-family dwellings and row houses. Construction spending for semi-detached buildings declined.
Investment in new housing construction fell in six provinces in May compared with May 2015, with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec registering the largest decreases. Spending was down 31.4% to $653 million in Alberta, the 11th consecutive month of year-over-year decline.
Note to readers
Data on investment in new housing construction (including single-family dwellings, semi-detached dwellings, row housing, apartments and condominiums) are not seasonally adjusted and all comparisons in this release are between May 2015 and May 2016.
Data in CANSIM are available at the national and provincial–territorial levels in both current and constant dollars (base year 2007).
Unless otherwise specified, the highlights refer to current dollars and are ranked in terms of dollar change rather than percentage change.
Contact information
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To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Monia Bergeron (613-286-5152; monia.bergeron@canada.ca), Investment, Science and Technology Division.
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