Spending on new housing construction totalled $3.9 billion in May, up 2.0 per cent from the same month a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada Tuesday.
The increase at the national level came mostly from higher investment in apartment and apartment-condominium building construction, up 12.8 per cent to $1.3 billion. Higher spending on row house construction, up 8.6 per cent to $412 million, also contributed to the advance.
Construction Spending, Canada
Investment in single-family dwellings fell 4.7 per cent to $1.9 billion, said Stats Can. Spending on semi-detached dwelling construction declined 4.9 per cent to $232 million.
At the provincial level, Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Nova Scotia reported increases on a year-over-year basis.
In Ontario, construction spending rose 14.6 per cent to $1.4 billion in May. In British Columbia, investment in new residential construction was up 16.2 per cent to $712 million. In Alberta, investment grew 5.1 per cent to $932 million. In Nova Scotia, spending increased 13 per cent to $43 million.
In contrast, Quebec registered the largest decrease, followed by Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
In Quebec, investment in new housing construction declined 22.2 per cent to $558 million in May. In Saskatchewan, construction spending fell 27.8 per cent to $105 million. In Manitoba, spending on new residential construction decreased 22.7 per cent to $97 million. in May, following a drop in April.