Ontario and B.C. residential construction boom continues, while Alberta, Nova Scotia and Manitoba suffer double-digit drops

Investment in Canadian residential construction (all types of housing, including both home building and renovations) reached $26.1 billion in the first quarter of this year, up 2.1 per cent from the same period last year, according to Statistics Canada. Apartment and apartment-condominium building construction (a 21.2 per cent increase) was the major positive factor.

Provincially, Ontario and British Columbia posted the largest increases.

Spending on residential construction in Ontario rose 11.3 per cent in the first quarter, the second year in a row that a double-digit increase has been recorded. British Columbia was up 10.1 per cent from the first quarter of 2015.

The largest year-over-year quarterly drop was recorded in Alberta. Compared with 1Q in 2015, the province’s residential construction was down 16.1 per cent, the 4th consecutive year-over-year decline in the first quarter.

Nova Scotia had the next highest decline. Total residential construction spending in the province fell 13.7 per cent in the first quarter.

Manitoba suffered the next largest drop, down 11.8 per cent from the same quarter in 2015.

For more data and analysis, please visit StatsCan here.