Investment in building construction, February 2026
Released: 2026-04-20
$23.0 billion
February 2026
-2.1% 
(monthly change)
The total value of investment in building construction decreased $503.2 million (-2.1%) to $23.0 billion in February, driven by a decline in the residential sector (-3.3%). Meanwhile, the non-residential sector edged up 0.7%, mitigating the decrease. Year over year, investment in building construction grew 1.8% in February.
On a constant dollar basis (2023=100), the total value of investment in building construction in February declined 2.3% from the previous month to $21.1 billion and was down 1.5% year over year.
Chart 1
Investment in building construction, seasonally adjusted
Multi-unit component weighs on residential investment
In February, investment in residential building construction was down $552.3 million to $16.0 billion. The decline in the multi-unit component (-6.9%) was moderated by an increase in the single-family component (+1.1%).
Investment in multi-unit dwelling construction decreased $630.0 million to $8.5 billion in February. Ontario (-$422.7 million) led the decline, supported by six other provinces and two territories.
Meanwhile, investment in single-family home construction rose $77.7 million to $7.4 billion in February. Gains in Quebec (+$103.1 million), New Brunswick (+$48.2 million) and Manitoba (+$24.2 million) were partially offset by declines in Ontario (-$54.4 million) and Saskatchewan (-$45.8 million).
Infographic 1
Investment in residential building construction, February 2026
Chart 2
Investment in residential building construction, seasonally adjusted
Increases across non-residential construction sector
In February, the value of investment in non-residential building construction edged up by $49.1 million to $7.0 billion. Growth was broad-based across the institutional (+0.9%), industrial (+0.7%) and commercial (+0.6%) components.
Investment in the institutional component rose $20.2 million to $2.2 billion in February. Alberta (+$9.9 million), Ontario (+$9.5 million) and British Columbia (+$8.6 million) were the primary contributors to the increase. These slight gains were moderated by declines across four provinces and two territories, led by Quebec (-$5.8 million).
Investment in the industrial component increased $9.0 million to $1.3 billion in February, marking the first monthly increase since January 2025. Alberta (+$4.7 million) led the growth in February 2026, with utility building construction contributing to the provincial growth. Broad gains across six other provinces and one territory also supported the overall increase.
Meanwhile, commercial construction investment was up $19.9 million to $3.6 billion in February, led by Alberta (+$15.7 million).
Infographic 2
Investment in non-residential building construction, February 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 March will be released on May 25.
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Contact information
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