Building construction price indexes, third quarter 2025
Released: 2025-11-04
National overview
Residential building construction costs increased 0.6% in the third quarter, following a 1.0% increase in the previous quarter. Non-residential building construction costs rose 0.6% in the third quarter, following a 1.8% increase in the previous quarter.
Year over year, construction costs for residential buildings in the 15-census metropolitan area (CMA) composite rose 3.3% in the third quarter, while non-residential building construction costs saw an increase of 4.2%.
Tariff pressures and supply-chain uncertainties continue to impact Canada's construction sector. The new round of US tariffs (on steel, aluminum, and metal materials) and Canada's corresponding counter-tariffs have increased costs for many materials within divisions such as structural steel and metal fabrications. Respondents noted that these reciprocal steel and aluminum tariffs have put additional pressure on metal-related material prices in the third quarter, adding to overall cost challenges. Builders also reported that securing materials has become more challenging, with longer lead times and fewer reliable sourcing alternatives.
Shortages of skilled workers and rising wages continue to drive up costs in certain regions of the country. The Prairies and Quebec saw steady activity, while other provinces such as Ontario and British Columbia were facing slower demand and delays in new construction starts.
Chart 1
Building construction price indexes, quarterly change, third quarter of 2025
Metal fabrications division shows strong cost growth in residential construction
In the third quarter, residential building construction costs rose across most CMAs, with Quebec (+2.4%) reporting the largest quarterly increase, followed by Regina (+2.2%). Increases were also notable in Saskatoon (+1.5%), Montréal (+1.4%), and Victoria (+1.4%). Calgary (-0.1%) was the only CMA to record a decline in residential construction costs in the third quarter.
At the division level, the metal fabrications division (+2.2%) was among the top contributors to residential building construction costs, while the utilities (+1.6%) and plumbing (+1.2%) divisions trailed closely behind. In contrast, the heating, ventilation and air conditioning, and the fire suppression divisions both declined by 0.6%, recording the lowest quarterly price movements.
London leads non-residential construction cost growth
Costs to construct non-residential buildings increased the most in London (+2.0%) in the third quarter, followed by Québec City (+1.5%). Ottawa (+1.0%), Saskatoon (+1.0%), and Edmonton (+0.8%) also reported moderate quarterly growth. Meanwhile, the smallest increases were seen in St. John's (+0.1%) and Vancouver (+0.1%).
At the composite level, non-residential building construction costs increased across most divisions measured, with the structural steel (+3.0%) and metal fabrications (+2.0%) divisions recording the largest increases. These increases were partly due to higher prices for metal materials, which continue to be affected by import tariffs. While there was moderate growth across divisions, the fire suppression (-1.5%) and the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (-2.2%) divisions recorded declines.
Note to readers
The building construction price indexes are quarterly series that measure the change over time in the prices that contractors charge to construct a range of new commercial, institutional, industrial and residential buildings in 15 census metropolitan areas (CMAs): St. John's, Halifax, Moncton, Québec, Montréal, Ottawa–Gatineau (Ontario part), Toronto, London, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria. Provincial-level indexes are also calculated and are based on the respective CMA-level movements.
These buildings include six non-residential structures: an office building, a warehouse, a shopping centre, a factory, a school, and a bus depot with maintenance and repair facilities. In addition, indexes are produced for four residential structures: a single-detached house, a townhouse, a high-rise apartment building (five storeys or more) and a low-rise apartment building (fewer than five storeys).
The contractor's price reflects the value of all materials, labour, equipment, overhead and profit to construct a new building. It excludes value-added taxes and any costs for land, land assembly, building design, land development and real estate fees.
With each release, data for the previous quarter may have been revised. The index is not seasonally adjusted.
With the publication of data for the third quarter of 2024, the indexes have been rebased to 2023=100 and table 18-10-0276 has been archived and replaced by table 18-10-0289. The information that was in table 18-10-0276 has been rebased and is also available in the new table, except for the four new CMAs, which include Québec, London, Regina, and Victoria, for which data are only available from 2023 onwards. Even though the indexes have been rebased, the quarterly changes of the indexes prior to 2023 are identical to what was released in the previous tables. Any differences that are identified are due to rounding. The quarterly changes from 2023 onwards may have changed because the weights were updated and four CMAs were added.
CMA-level and building-level weights are available on an annual basis and can be found in table 18-10-0290. Further, division-level weights for all building types within each CMA are available on an annual basis and can be found in table 18-10-0287.
Products
The Building Construction Price Indexes Data Visualization Tool is now available. It provides access to current and historical data from the Building Construction Price Index (BCPI) for four residential and six non-residential building types, for the census metropolitan areas (CMAs) of St. John's, Halifax, Moncton, Québec, Montréal, Ottawa–Gatineau (Ontario part), Toronto, London, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria, as well as for a composite of these 15 CMAs, in a dynamic and customizable format.
The Technical Guide for the Building Construction Price Index, 2023 is now available. This document provides details on the methodology used to calculate the BCPI.
Statistics Canada launched the Producer Price Indexes Portal as part of a suite of portals for prices and price indexes. This webpage provides Canadians with a single point of access to a wide variety of statistics and measures related to producer prices.
The video "Producer price indexes" is available on the Statistics Canada Training Institute webpage. It provides an introduction to Statistics Canada's producer price indexes: what they are, how they are made and what they are used for.
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; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
- Date modified: