Canadian investment in new housing construction rose 4.6 percent to C$3.5 billion (US$2.8 billion) in January compared with the same month in 2014.
Higher investment in all dwelling types was responsible for the increase in total investment in new residential building construction. Spending in apartment and apartment-condominium building construction led the advance, up 6.4 percent to $1.1 billion (US$0.9 billion).
Single-family dwellings followed with a 2.3 percent increase to $1.9 billion (US$1.5 billion). Row houses, up 8.7 percent to $335 million (US$266.5 million), and semi-detached dwellings, up 10.7 percent to $200 million (US$159.1 million), also contributed to the gain observed at the national level.
Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario registered the largest year-over-year increases. In Alberta, total investment in new residential dwelling construction was up 14.3 percent to $846 million (US$672.9 million). In British Columbia, spending was up 10.9 percent to $605 million (US$481.2 million). In Ontario, investment increased 3.6 percent to $1.2 billion (US$1 billion).
Conversely, Manitoba, down 13.5 percent to $90 million (US$71.6 million), and Saskatchewan, down 9.7 percent to $128 million (US$101.8 million), registered the largest declines.
