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February 13, 2023BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, DECEMBER AND ANNUAL 2022 Month-over-month (December 2022 vs November 2022, seasonally adjusted)
Investment in Nova Scotia building construction decreased 10.7% in December 2022 to $379.0 million. Halifax monthly building construction decreased 11.0% to $192.3 million and outside of Halifax building construction fell 10.4% to $186.7 million. Nationally, investment in building construction declined 1.3%. Monthly building construction was down in seven provinces with Nova Scotia posting the largest decline. Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick reported the largest gains.
Nova Scotia's December 2022 residential construction investment decreased 12.7% to $317.8 million. Halifax residential construction was down 13.5% to $153.2 million. Outside of Halifax residential construction was down 12.0% to $164.6 million. National residential construction was down 2.1% as seven provinces reported lower residential construction investment. The largest decrease was in Nova Scotia. Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick reported the largest gains.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building construction increased 1.3% to $61.2 million. In Halifax, non-residential construction was up 0.2% to $39.1 million. Outside of Halifax, non-residential construction was up 3.3% to $22.1 million. National non-residential building construction was up 0.8% in December 2022. Four provinces reported increases, with the largest increases in Ontario and Manitoba. The largest declines were in Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Annual (2022 vs 2021)
Compared to 2021, annual building construction investment was up 27.2% in Nova Scotia in 2022 - the largest gain among provinces. Halifax construction activity was up 40.9% and outside of Halifax construction activity was up 14.4%. National building construction investment was up 11.4% with nine provinces reporting increases. The only decline was reported in Prince Edward Island.
Annual residential construction investment was up 27.7% in Nova Scotia - the largest gain in residential building investment among provinces. Halifax's annual residential construction was up 37.4%. Outside of Halifax, residential construction was up 18.6% compared to the previous year. National residential construction was up 10.7% with nine provinces reporting higher residential construction investment over 2021. Prince Edward Island reported the only decline.
Nova Scotia's non-residential construction was up 23.9% comparing 2022 with 2021. Halifax's non-residential construction rose 63.5%. Outside of Halifax, non-residential construction was down 10.0%. National non-residential construction investment increased 13.3% compared to 2021. Eight provinces reported increases, with the largest increases in Saskatchewan. The only declines were reported in Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nova Scotia's total building construction investment reached $5.632 billion in 2022; $4.854 billion in residential investments and $0.778 billion in non-residential investments. Building construction investment growth in Nova Scotia reflected increases in all residential and non-residential construction types across the province, with the exception of institutional/government buildings outside of Halifax and commercial buildings outside of Halifax.
Trends
Overall building construction has been increasing, largely because of rising residential and non-residential construction in Halifax as well as an increase in residential construction outside the city. However, construction investment has declined in recent months, particularly in residential buildings.
In Halifax, residential construction investment has been trending up for both single and multi-unit dwellings since the mid of 2021. However, in recent months both are declining. Outside the city, growth in single dwelling unit construction is stronger than in multi-unit structures.
Non-residential building construction has lower values than residential construction. Halifax commercial and industrial building construction have been on increasing trend since the end of 2021, however industrial construction is declining in recent months. Outside the city, non-residential construction trended down in 2022 for all three categories of non-residential building: commercial, industrial, and government/institutional.
Annual trends
In 2022, building construction investment reached $5.632 billion, of which $3.014 billion was in Halifax and $2.618 billion was outside the city.
Residential investment was $4.854 billion in 2022; $2.54 billion in Halifax and $2.314 outside the city.
Investments in single dwelling units rose to $3.28 billion in 2022 with $1.282 billion in Halifax and $1.998 billion outside the city.
There were $1.574 billion in multiple unit dwelling investments in 2022, the large majority of which ($1.258 billion) were in Halifax. Outside the city, there were $316 million in investments in multiple dwelling unit buildings.
Non-residential investment grew to $778 million in 2022, the first substantial rise since 2018. There were $474 million in non-residential building investments in Halifax and $304 million in non-residential building investments outside the city.
Commercial projects are the largest part of non-residential investments. There were $482 million in commercial building investments in 2022, rebounding after a decline in 2021. Commercial building investments in 2022 totalled $339 million in Halifax and $142 million outside the city.
Industrial building investments grew to $169 million in 2022, up from $131 million in 2021. Industrial building investments in 2022 were roughly evenly split between Halifax ($82 million) and outside the city ($87 million).
Institutional and government building investments edged down to $127 million in 2022. Investments outside Halifax ($75 million) made up a larger share of institutional and government building construction than investments in Halifax ($52 million).
Statistics Canada. Table 34-10-0175-01 Investment in Building Construction
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