Canadian investment in new housing construction increased 2.3 percent to C$3.9 billion (US$3.2 billion) in April compared with the same month in 2014, according to Statistics Canada.
Higher investment in apartment and apartment-condominium building construction was responsible for most of the national advance, rising 7.9 percent to C$1.3 billion (US$1.1 billion). Also contributing to the advance, spending in row house construction increased 5.9 percent to $383 million (US$311.7 million) and semi-detached dwelling construction increased 3.2 percent to $229 million (US$186.4 million).
Single-family dwellings were the lone component to register a decline in construction spending, down 1.8 percent to $2 billion (US$1.6 billion).
At the provincial level, British Columbia, followed by Ontario, Alberta and Nova Scotia recorded the largest year-over-year increases.
In British Columbia, total investment in new residential construction rose 18.2 percent to $739 million (US$601.4 million). In Ontario, investment increased 7 percent to $1.3 billion (US$1.1 billion), while in Alberta, spending was up 8.3 percent to $1 billion (US$0.8 billion). In Nova Scotia, spending grew 9.6 percent to $47 million (US$38.2 million).
In contrast, Quebec recorded the largest decline, followed by Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
In Quebec, total spending fell 19.8 percent to $527 million (US$428.9 million), with lower investment in single-family dwellings responsible for much of the decline, down 34.6 percent to $173 million (US$140.8 million).
In Saskatchewan, total investment declined 20.1 percent to $116 million (US$94.4 million) and in Manitoba, total spending fell 14.1 percent to $105 million (US$85.4 million).
