Investment in building construction, October 2019
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Released: 2019-12-23
$15.5 billion
October 2019
0.5% 
(monthly change)
Total investment in building construction decreased 0.5% from September to $15.5 billion in October. Investment in the non-residential sector was up (+0.5% to $4.9 billion), while the residential sector decreased (-1.0% to $10.6 billion). On a constant dollar basis (2012=100), investment in building construction was down 0.4% to $12.8 billion.
For more information on housing, please visit the Housing Statistics Portal.
Chart 1
Investment in building construction
Residential investment
Investment in the residential sector was down in six provinces in October. The largest decrease was in Ontario (-$129.6 million), which posted its first decline in four months. Investment in both single (-1.0%) and multi-unit (-0.9%) dwellings decreased to $5.3 billion nationally. Despite the national decline, residential investment in British Columbia rose (+5.3% to $1.9 billion) after reporting decreases in both single and multi-unit dwellings for the previous four months.
Chart 2
Investment in residential building construction
Infographic 1
Residential construction investment, October 2019
Non-residential investment edges up
Investment in the non-residential sector edged up 0.5% to $4.9 billion in October. The commercial component increased 1.1% to $2.9 billion, largely due to increases in Ontario (+2.0% to $1.0 billion) and British Columbia (+3.8% to $546.9 million). The industrial (-0.3% to $902.4 million) and institutional (-0.4% to $1.1 billion) components edged down in October.
Infographic 2
Non-residential construction investment, October 2019
Note to readers
Unadjusted data for the current reference month are subject to revision as a result of late responses. Data for the previous month have been revised. Seasonally adjusted data are revised for the previous two months.
Data presented in this release are seasonally adjusted and are expressed in current dollars unless otherwise stated. Using seasonally adjusted data facilitates month-to-month comparisons by removing the effects of seasonal variations. For information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
Monthly estimates for constant dollars are calculated using quarterly deflators from the Building Construction Price Index (table 18-10-0135-01). Typically, the first two months of a quarter use the previous quarter's price level and are revised when the new quarterly price index becomes available.
Detailed data on investment activity by type of building and type of work are now available in the unadjusted current dollar series.
As a result of data source constraints, the total value for "type of work – all" may not equal the sum of its parts ("new construction," "renovation," "conversion," and "other"). The component required to complete the summation is "type of structure, minor."
In the type of work series "conversions total," one or more residential dwelling units are created from an existing structure. Deconversions, garages and carports, as well as in-ground swimming pools, are grouped together in the "other types of work" category.
Prior to January 2018, building permits for cottages with a value greater than $60,000 were automatically reclassified to structure type "single." Beginning in January 2018, building permits received from municipalities for structures coded as cottages, regardless of value, are classified to structure type "cottages."
Effective November 23, 2018, table 34-10-0175-01 contains data on both the residential and non-residential sectors. It replaced tables 34-10-0010-01, 34-10-0011-01 and 34-10-0012-01.
Products
Statistics Canada has a new Housing Market Indicators Dashboard. This web application provides access to key housing market indicators for Canada, by province and by census metropolitan area. These indicators are automatically updated with new information from monthly releases, giving users access to the latest data.
Next release
Data on investment in building construction for November 2019 will be released on January 21, 2020.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
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