Investment in non-residential building construction increased 1.3 percent from the previous quarter to $10.7 billion in the first quarter, according to Statistics Canada. This was the fifth consecutive quarterly increase and reflected higher spending in both commercial and industrial building construction.

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First-quarter investment increased in five provinces. The largest gains were in Ontario and Quebec, led by commercial investment, which was also up in seven other provinces. Investment in Alberta recorded the largest decline, as a result of lower spending in the institutional component.

Locally, investment rose in 16 of 34 census metropolitan areas. The largest increases occurred in Toronto, Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo and St. Catherines–Niagara. Rising commercial investment led the gains in Toronto and Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo, while institutional investment was the main contributor in St. Catherines–Niagara.

The largest decline occurred in Calgary, where spending fell in both the institutional and commercial components.

Commercial
Investors spent $6.2 billion on commercial projects, up 2.4 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010 and the fifth consecutive quarterly gain.

Commercial investment rose in nine provinces. The largest gain occurred in Ontario, where investment increased 3.2 percent to $2.6 billion, while in Quebec commercial investment rose 3.5 percent and remained at $1.0 billion. In both provinces, the gain was led by higher spending in the construction of office buildings. Ontario also recorded higher investment in laboratory and research centres.

In contrast, British Columbia recorded a decline, mostly the result of lower spending on recreational and office buildings.

Industrial
Investment in industrial projects totalled $1.2 billion in the first quarter, up 5.3 percent from the previous quarter and the fourth consecutive quarterly gain.

The first-quarter increase was attributable to higher investment in the construction of manufacturing and mining facilities in seven provinces, as well as higher spending on maintenance buildings in Alberta.

Provincially, the most substantial contributions to the quarterly increase came from Alberta, where investment rose 15.0 percent to $275 million, and from Ontario, where it advanced 2.9 percent to $471 million.

Industrial investment in Quebec rose 4.1 percent to $251 million. Gains in Central Canada were mostly a result of higher investment in manufacturing plants, while increased investment in Alberta was mostly in maintenance facilities.

First-quarter declines in Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and British Columbia were spread among several industrial building categories.

Institutional
Spending in the institutional component fell 2.2 percent to $3.3 billion, the fifth consecutive quarterly decline nationally.

The biggest contributing factor to the decline in the first quarter was lower spending in the construction of educational and health care facilities in Alberta.

Institutional spending was up in six provinces. The largest increases were in Quebec, British Columbia and Ontario, where higher investment occurred in several institutional buildings categories.