Investment in building construction, January 2026
Released: 2026-03-19
$23.4 billion
January 2026
-1.9% 
(monthly change)
The total value of investment in building construction decreased $448.3 million (-1.9%) to $23.4 billion in January. Declines in the residential sector (-3.0%) were moderated by a slight increase in the non-residential sector (+0.8%). Year over year, investment in building construction grew 7.8% in January.
On a constant dollar basis (2023=100), the total value of investment in building construction in January declined 2.0% from the previous month to $21.4 billion but was up 4.3% year over year.
Chart 1
Investment in building construction, seasonally adjusted
Widespread decline within residential construction
In January, investment in residential building construction decreased $504.3 million to $16.4 billion. Declines were recorded in both the single-family (-3.4%) and the multi-unit (-2.7%) components.
Investment in single-family home construction decreased $255.2 million to $7.3 billion in January. This decrease partly stems from the $119.7 million decline in the value of single-family building permits in December. The decline in January was largely attributable to Ontario (-$164.4 million) and British Columbia (-$91.0 million). Gains in four provinces (+$47.4 million) moderated the overall decline.
Meanwhile, investment in multi-unit construction was down $249.1 million to $9.1 billion in January. Quebec (-$220.6 million) led the decrease, supported by broad declines across seven other provinces and one territory.
Infographic 1
Investment in residential building construction, January 2026
Chart 2
Investment in residential building construction, seasonally adjusted
Non-residential building investment edges up
In January, the value of non-residential investment in building construction edged up $56.0 million to $7.0 billion. Investments in the commercial and institutional components each increased by 1.1%, while the industrial component was down slightly (-0.4%).
Investment in the commercial component grew $38.2 million to $3.5 billion in January, marking the sixth consecutive monthly increase. Gains in Ontario (+$18.3 million), Alberta (+$16.7 million) and British Columbia (+$6.6 million) were mitigated by a decrease in Quebec (-$2.6 million). In total, seven provinces and one territory contributed to the overall increase.
Meanwhile, investment in institutional construction rose $23.5 million to $2.1 billion in January. Overall, six provinces and one territory contributed to the increase, led by British Columbia (+$17.6 million).
Investment in the industrial component edged down $5.7 million to $1.3 billion in January, mainly driven by Quebec (-$5.8 million). By contrast, Alberta (+$1.8 million) along with three other provinces and three territories recorded a growth.
Infographic 2
Investment in non-residential building construction, January 2026
For more information on construction, please visit the Construction statistics portal.
For more information on housing, please visit the Housing statistics portal.
Note to readers
This content was created with the assistance of a generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool and refined and verified by Statistics Canada experts. To learn more about how the agency uses AI responsibly, please visit the Trust Centre.
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 February will be released on April 20.
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Contact information
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