Canadian Investment in new housing construction increased 2.4 percent to C$3.5 billion (US$2.9 billion) in February compared with the same month in 2014, according to Statistics Canada.
The increase came mainly from higher spending on row house and apartment building construction. Investment in row house construction rose 9.1 percent to C$348 million (US$283.9 million), while spending on apartment and apartment-condominium buildings advanced 2.2 percent to C$1.1 billion (US$897.4 million).
Spending on semi-detached dwellings – up 11.2 percent to C$194 million (US$158.3 million) – also contributed to the national advance. Investment in single-family dwellings edged up 0.5 percent to C$1.8 billion (US$1.5 billion).
At the provincial level, Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario posted the largest year-over-year advances.
In Alberta, total investment in new dwellings increased 13.4 percent to C$902 million (US$735.9 million). In British Columbia, spending was up 10.4 percent to C$622 million (US$507.5 million), while in Ontario, investment rose 1.7 percent to C$1.2 billion (US$979 million).
In contrast, the largest decrease occurred in Quebec, followed by Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador. In Quebec, spending on new residential building construction was down 10.7 percent to C$468 million (US$381.8 million). In Saskatchewan, investment declined 10.7 percent to C$123 million (US$100.3 million) and in Newfoundland and Labrador, investment was down 25.8 percent to C$40 million (US$32.6 million).
