Canadian investment in new housing construction increased 5.9 percent to C$4.5 billion (US$3.4 billion) in July compared with the same month in 2015, according to Statistics Canada.
The advance at the national level was attributable to higher spending on apartment and apartment-condominium building construction (+13.1 percent), single-family dwelling construction (+1.8 percent) and row house construction (+8.8 percent).
In contrast, investment in semi-detached dwellings declined year over year for the 15th consecutive month, down 3.4 percent in July.
At the provincial level, Ontario and British Columbia were the only provinces to record gains.
In Ontario, investment in new housing construction rose 24.8 percent year over year in July. The increase resulted from higher spending on all four dwelling types, with single-family dwellings, and apartment and apartment-condominium buildings accounting for most of the gain.
In British Columbia, spending on new residential construction was up 33.7 percent compared with the same month a year earlier. While investment in all four dwelling types contributed to the advance, higher spending on apartment and apartment-condominium building construction was responsible for much of the increase.
Alberta recorded the largest decline in spending on new residential dwelling construction in July, followed by Quebec, a distant second.
In Alberta, investment fell 30.3 percent year over year in July. This marked the 13th consecutive monthly decline. The decrease was mainly attributable to lower investment in single-family dwellings, and apartment and apartment-condominium buildings.
In Quebec, spending on new housing construction in July was down 7.3 percent year-over-year. The decline followed seven consecutive months of year-over-year advances. Lower investment in single-family dwellings was mainly responsible for the decrease, which was moderated by a 46.8 percent gain in spending on row house construction.
