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January 21, 2019INVESTMENT IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, NOVEMBER 2018 Statistics Canada has released a new data series titled "Investment in Building Construction". This monthly data replaces previous quarterly series on investment in residential construction and investment in non-residential building construction. Most data are available on a seasonally adjusted basis (except where noted).
Total residential and non-residential construction
Investment in Nova Scotia building construction declined 2.2 per cent in November (seasonally adjusted) compared with October. Halifax monthly building construction declined 10.9 per cent. Nationally, investment in building construction was down 2.0 per cent in November. Prince Edward Island reported the strongest monthly gain while Alberta reported the largest decline.
Comparing the first eleven months of 2018 with the same period of 2017, building construction investment was down 0.3 per cent in Nova Scotia. Halifax construction activity, however, was up 6.5 per cent. National building construction investment was up 3.2 per cent over the period January to November with the fastest growth in British Columbia and Quebec. The largest declines were reported in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Through the first eleven months of 2018, the decline in residential construction activity is concentrated outside Halifax. Rising non-residential investment is concentrated in the Halifax commercial sector.
Total building construction investment was $277 million in November. In recent years, Halifax has accounted for a rising share of construction activity in the province. After reporting about 51 per cent of total construction activity in 2016, Halifax's share of building construction activity has risen to 60 per cent of the year-to-date total.
Residential activity accounts for most of the trend in monthly building construction investment, accounting for 80 per cent of the November results. Non-residential construction activity makes up a much smaller share of the total.
Residential construction
Monthly residential construction was down 2.6 per cent in Nova Scotia (seasonally adjusted) in November compared to October. National residential construction declined 2.2 per cent over October. Prince Edward Island reported the fastest monthly growth while Alberta reported the largest monthly decline.
Comparing the first eleven months of 2018 with the same period in 2017, residential construction investment declined 1.6 per cent in Nova Scotia. Halifax's residential construction was up 6.6 per cent. National residential construction was up 0.7 per cent with the largest gains in British Columbia. The largest declines were reported in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Investment in renovations tends to represent the largest share of residential construction investment in Nova Scotia. Year-to-date, renovation investment (unadjusted) is down 4.2 per cent in Nova Scotia due to declining renovations in singles across the province. New housing construction investment (unadjusted) was down 0.7 per cent YTD as declines in apartment construction in Halifax and singles outside of the city offset rising construction in other categories.
Non-residential construction
Non-residential building construction declined by 0.4 per cent in Nova Scotia in November (seasonally adjusted). National non-residential building construction declined 1.6 per cent compared to October. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest monthly increase while New Brunswick reported the largest monthly decline.
Year-to-date, Nova Scotia's non-residential construction increased by 5.2 per cent compared with the same period in 2017. Halifax's non-residential construction grew by 6.0 per cent. National non-residential construction investment was up by 8.9 per cent, with the fastest gain in Newfoundland and Labrador and the only decline reported in Saskatchewan.
Statistics Canada. Table 34-10-0175-01 Investment in Building Construction
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