Investment in building construction, December 2025
Released: 2026-02-18
$23.7 billion
December 2025
1.9% 
(monthly change)
The total value of investment in building construction increased $442.9 million (+1.9%) to $23.7 billion in December. The residential sector grew 2.4%, while the non-residential sector edged up 0.6%. Year over year, investment in building construction grew 12.2% in December.
On a constant dollar basis (2023=100), the total value of investment in building construction in December rose 1.7% from the previous month to $21.8 billion and was up 8.4% year over year.
Chart 1
Investment in building construction, seasonally adjusted
Multi-unit construction drives growth in residential investment
In December, investment in residential building construction was up $401.0 million to $16.8 billion. This growth was driven by the multi-unit component (+2.6%), followed by the single-family component (+2.3%).
Investment in multi-unit construction rose $234.1 million to $9.3 billion in December, led by Ontario (+$266.9 million) and Alberta (+$97.3 million). The increase was partially offset by declines in Quebec (-$111.8 million) and Manitoba (-$25.2 million). In total, three provinces and two territories contributed to the growth in this component.
Meanwhile, investment in single-family home construction increased $166.9 million to $7.5 billion. The increase was driven by Ontario (+$116.3 million) and British Columbia (+$45.6 million).
Infographic 1
Investment in residential building construction, December 2025
Chart 2
Investment in residential building construction, seasonally adjusted
Commercial component leads non-residential sector
Investment in non-residential construction edged up $41.9 million to $6.9 billion in December. Growth in the commercial (+1.3%) and institutional (+0.2%) components were moderated by a slight decline in the industrial component (-0.4%).
Commercial construction investment rose $43.8 million to $3.5 billion in December. This growth was driven by Alberta (+$20.6 million), followed by Ontario (+$15.7 million) and British Columbia (+$6.4 million). In total, eight provinces and one territory contributed to the increase in commercial construction investment. Investment in office building construction led the increase in the commercial component, driven by major projects in the Toronto and Vancouver census metropolitan areas.
Investment in the institutional component edged up $3.8 million to $2.1 billion in December, led by British Columbia (+$21.1 million) and Alberta (+$7.6 million). The slight gains in these two provinces were moderated by declines across four provinces and two territories, driven by Ontario (-$21.4 million).
Investment in the industrial component edged down $5.8 million to $1.3 billion in December, marking the 11th consecutive monthly decrease. Quebec (-$3.9 million), British Columbia (-$2.5 million) and Manitoba (-$1.1 million) were the primary contributors to the decline, while Ontario (+$1.9 million) partially offset it.
Infographic 2
Investment in non-residential building construction, December 2025
Investment in building construction increases in the fourth quarter
The value of investment in building construction was up 2.1% (+$1.4 billion) to $69.4 billion in the fourth quarter. On a constant dollar basis (2023=100), the total value of investment in building construction grew 1.3% from the previous quarter to $63.9 billion in the fourth quarter.
Investment in residential building construction rose $1.1 billion to $48.8 billion in the fourth quarter. This increase was primarily attributed to the multi-unit component (+$895.9 million), followed by the single-family component (+$243.2 million). Additionally, the increase in investment was broad-based with seven provinces and two territories reporting gains.
Meanwhile, investment in non-residential building construction recorded a new high, rising $289.7 million to $20.6 billion in the fourth quarter. The commercial (+$314.2 million) and institutional (+$57.7 million) components contributed to the increase, while the industrial component (-$82.2 million) declined.
Annual review, 2025
In 2025, the total value of investment in building construction increased 8.5% (+$21.3 billion) to $272.1 billion. On a constant dollar basis (2023=100), the total value of investment in building construction grew 4.8% to $254.0 billion. The remainder of this release will use constant dollars (2023=100).
Investment in residential building construction rose $12.5 billion to $178.0 billion in 2025. The multi-unit component (+$11.2 billion to $98.4 billion) drove the increase, followed by the single-family component (+$1.3 billion to $79.6 billion).
Declines in the non-residential sector (-$738.6 million to $76.0 billion) tempered the increase of the investment in building construction in 2025. Losses in the industrial (-$1.2 billion) and commercial (-$787.2 million) components were moderated by gains in the institutional component (+$1.3 billion).
Investment in the industrial component decreased 7.3% to $15.3 billion in 2025, led by Quebec (-$705.0 million), followed by Ontario (-$397.1 million) and, to a lesser extent, British Columbia (-$98.3 million). In total, eight provinces and two territories contributed to the decline.
Commercial construction investment was down 2.1% to $37.6 billion in 2025, driven by Quebec (-$506.9 million), Alberta (-$464.2 million) and British Columbia (-$437.2 million). The decrease was tempered by increases in Ontario (+$464.3 million) and New Brunswick (+$102.4 million).
Investment in the institutional component rose 5.7% to $23.1 billion in 2025. Alberta (+$1.1 billion) led the overall growth, supported by broad gains across seven other provinces and the three territories.
For more information on construction, please visit the Construction statistics portal.
For more information on housing, please visit the Housing statistics portal.
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Table 34-10-0286 has been archived on the Statistics Canada website and will no longer be updated but may still be viewed. The successor table is 34-10-0293, and the information from January 2017 onwards that was in table 34-10-0286 is still available in the new table, except for the constant dollar series, which has been rebased to 2017=100. Constant dollar data for January and February 2017 represent an average between the old base year (2012=100) and the new base year (2023=100) and should be used with caution. The 2017 data series will be backcasted and the figures will be revised with the release of our annual revision.
Data are subject to revisions based on late responses, delayed construction start dates for large projects, methodological changes, classification updates, price index updates for constant dollar series, benchmarking and adjustments to ad hoc macroeconomic events. Unadjusted data have been revised back to January 2023. Seasonally adjusted data have been revised back to January 2017.
Data presented in this release are seasonally adjusted with current dollar values unless otherwise stated. Using seasonally adjusted data allows month-to-month and quarter-to-quarter 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 (18-10-0276-01). The monthly indexes used for the deflation process were part of a methodology review to increase the quality of the constant dollar and seasonally adjusted series. The indexes previously displayed a step pattern because of less frequent collection.
Detailed data on investment activity by type of building and type of work are now available in the unadjusted current dollar series.
The trade and services subcomponent includes buildings such as retail and wholesale outlets, retail complexes and motor vehicle show rooms. More detailed information can be found on the Integrated Metadatabase at Types of Building Structure - 2.2.1 - Trade and services.
Next release
Data on investment in building construction for January 2026 will be released on March 19.
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