Canadian investment in new housing construction increased 4.9 percent to C$5 billion (US$3.7 billion) in October compared with the same month in 2015, according to Statistics Canada.
Nationally, nearly half of residential construction spending was devoted to single-family homes. Investment in apartment buildings accounted for over one-third of national spending.
Year-over-year, investment in single family homes rose 6 percent, while spending on apartment buildings increased 2.1 percent. Row house construction investment increased 11.7 percent, whereas spending on semi-detached dwellings was up 3.4 percent.
At the provincial level, the largest gains in new housing spending were recorded in British Columbia and Ontario. These two provinces posted increases for all four dwelling types, and together accounted for two-thirds of total national investment.
In British Columbia, spending on new housing construction in October was up 31.4 percent from the same month a year earlier. Higher investment in apartment buildings and single-family homes largely drove the advance.
In Ontario, investment in new residential construction increased 13.9 percent year-over-year in October. The gain was attributable mainly to higher spending on single-family homes and, to a lesser extent, row houses and apartment buildings.
Conversely, investment in new housing construction was down in seven provinces in October compared with October 2015, with Alberta registering the largest decrease.
In Alberta, spending on the four housing types declined in October, down 27 percent year-over-year. The drop was largely the result of lower spending on apartment buildings and single-family homes. Spending on new housing construction in Alberta has been on a downward trend since July 2015.
