Canadian investment in new housing construction increased 0.4 percent to C$4.4 billion (US$3.4 billion) in July compared with the same month in 2014, according to Statistics Canada.
Nationally, higher spending on apartment and apartment-condominium building construction and, to a lesser degree, row house construction, offset lower investment in single-family and semi-detached dwelling construction.
Investment in apartment and apartment-condominium building construction totaled C$1.6 billion (US$1.2 billion) in August, up 24.8 percent compared with the same month a year earlier. This was the fourth consecutive double-digit advance. Spending on row housing amounted to C$432 million (US$329.8 million), up 7.5 percent from August 2014.
Investment in the construction of single-family dwellings fell 11.6 percent year over year to C$2.2 billion (US$1.7 billion). Construction spending on semi-detached dwellings declined 12.8 percent to C$236 million (US$180.2 million).
Increases were registered in three provinces, led by Ontario, followed by British Columbia and Nova Scotia.
In Ontario, construction spending grew 14.5 percent to C$1.7 billion (US$1.3 billion) in August compared with the same month a year earlier. Spending on single-family houses accounted for much of the growth, followed by apartment and apartment-condominium buildings. In contrast, investment in semi-detached dwellings fell 20.7 percent year over year, marking the sixth consecutive decline.
In British Columbia, investment rose 16.9 percent to C$809 million (US$617.6 million) in August. The growth came from all dwelling types except semi-detached dwellings. However, higher construction spending on apartment and apartment-condominium buildings accounted for most of the advance.
In Nova Scotia, investment in new housing construction increased 15.1 percent from August 2014 to C$63 million (US$48.1 million) in August. The advance was attributable to higher construction spending on apartment and apartment-condominium buildings, which offset lower investment in the other dwelling types, particularly single-family houses.
Alberta, Quebec and Saskatchewan registered the largest decreases.
