Building construction price indexes, first quarter 2026
Released: 2026-04-28
National overview
Residential building construction costs increased 0.6% in the first quarter, following a 0.5% increase in the previous quarter. Non-residential building construction costs rose 0.5% in the first quarter, following a 0.5% increase in the previous quarter.
Year over year, construction costs for residential buildings rose 2.8% in the 15-census metropolitan area (CMA) composite in the first quarter, while non-residential building construction costs increased 3.6%.
The construction sector encountered challenging conditions in the first quarter, characterized by subdued demand for new projects, ongoing material sourcing constraints, and persistent skilled labour shortages in select trades across the country. In Ontario, builders noted a decline in bidding and indicated that residential buyers were hesitant to make purchases ahead of the HST rebates, which led to fewer housing starts and delayed developments. Similar comments were echoed across other provinces, as buyers waited for clarity on the expected GST relief for first-time home buyers, which contributed to a slowdown in new projects.
In more active markets such as the Atlantic Region, which saw new construction building permit values increase 16.8% from 2024 to 2025, and the Prairie Region (+14.7%), which saw a similar increase, builders reported skilled labour shortages being their primary market challenge in the first quarter of 2026. At the same time, retaliatory tariffs on steel and steel-related products, introduced in March 2025 and expanded in December, were reported to have contributed to price increases in metal-related products across the country.
Chart 1
Building construction price indexes, quarterly change, first quarter of 2026
Metal fabrications division leads residential construction cost growth
In the first quarter, residential building construction costs rose across all CMAs, with Montréal (+2.6%) reporting the largest quarterly increase, followed by Victoria (+1.6%). Increases were also notable in Québec (+1.5%) and Regina (+1.4%). Winnipeg (+0.2%), Toronto (+0.1%) and Calgary (+0.0%) experienced the smallest growth in residential construction costs this quarter.
At the division level for residential building construction, the conveying equipment division (+2.5%) saw the largest quarterly increase, followed by metal fabrications (+2.1%), plumbing (+1.5%) and structural steel framing (+1.3%). In contrast, concrete (-0.3%), masonry (-1.0%) and fire suppression (-1.3%) recorded price declines in the first quarter.
Halifax leads non-residential construction cost growth
Construction costs for non-residential buildings increased the most in Halifax (+1.6%) in the first quarter, followed by London (+1.2%) and Calgary (+1.2%). Québec (+1.1%) and Moncton (+1.0%) recorded moderate growth. In contrast, Winnipeg (-0.2%) and Ottawa (-0.3%) were the only CMAs to see price declines.
At the composite level, non-residential building construction costs increased across most divisions measured, with metal fabrications (+2.3%) and structural steel (+1.9%) recording the largest increases. These increases reflect the upward price pressure associated with the implemented retaliatory tariffs. Price pressure across most other divisions remained moderate through the first quarter, while the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (-1.0%) and fire suppression (-7.1%) divisions recorded the only 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).
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