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April 22, 2025BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, FEBRUARY 2025 Monthly (February 2025 vs January 2025, seasonally adjusted)
Investment in Nova Scotia building construction fell 7.6% in February 2025 to $549.4 million, the fastest decline among provinces. Halifax monthly building construction was down 6.3% to $336.9 million while outside of Halifax building construction was down 9.6% to $212.5 million. Nationally, investment in building construction increased 1.5% with declines in six provinces. Ontario reported the largest gain in building construction investment.
Nova Scotia's February 2025 residential construction investment dropped 10.1% to $440.2 million. Halifax residential construction was down 7.8% to $273.4 million. Outside of Halifax residential construction was down 13.7% to $166.8 million. National residential construction increased by 1.8% despite declines in six provinces. Ontario had the largest gain and Nova Scotia reported the fastest decline.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building construction rose 4.2% to $109.2 million. In Halifax, non-residential construction was up 1.1% to $63.5 million. Outside of Halifax, non-residential construction was up 8.9% to $45.8 million. National non-residential building construction was up 0.8% in February 2025 with gains in seven provinces, led by New Brunswick. Prince Edward Island reported the fastest decline.
Year-to-date (January-February 2025 vs January-February 2024)
Compared to January-February 2024, building construction investment was up 17.0% in Nova Scotia. Halifax construction activity was up 43.8% and outside of Halifax construction activity was down 9.3%. National building construction investment was up 7.4%, with gains in all provinces except British Columbia and Alberta. Saskatchewan reported the largest gain, followed by New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Residential construction investment was up 17.2% in Nova Scotia compared to January-February 2024. Halifax's residential construction was up 51.9% and outside of Halifax residential construction was down 13.9%. National residential construction was up 7.8% with gains in seven provinces. Saskatchewan reported the fastest gain, while British Columbia experienced the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's non-residential construction was up 15.9% compared to January-February 2024. Halifax's non-residential construction rose 15.8% while outside of Halifax, non-residential construction was up 16.0%. National non-residential construction investment increased 6.4% compared to January-February 2024. All provinces reported gains except Québec, led by Prince Edward Island.
Nova Scotia's total building construction investment increased from $978.0 million in January-February 2024 to $1,144.1 million in January-February 2025. Non-residential investment was up across the province, but was offset by a decline in residential investment outside of Halifax, resulting in declining overall building investment in the rest of Nova Scotia.
Residential construction investments were up for multiple unit dwellings and single dwelling units in Halifax, while the rest of Nova Scotia's increase in multiple unit dwelling investment was offset by a decline in single unit investment.
Non-residential building construction investment was up in the industrial and institutional/government categories of non-residential construction across the province. Investment in commercial construction was up in Halifax, but declined in the rest of the province.
All categories of building construction investment increased in Halifax, with the fastest gain in multiple unit dwellings and the slowest in commercial construction. In the rest of Nova Scotia residential building construction investment declined, with gains in multiple unit dwellings offset by a decline in single dwelling units. For non-residential building construction in the rest of Nova Scotia, the fastest growth was in institutional/government investment, while commercial construction declined.
Trends
Building construction has trended up over recent years, particularly from rising residential investment. Residential investment (and therefore total investment) exhibits peaks and troughs around a rising trend and has recently begun to increase after a several-month decline, with gains in Halifax offsetting continued declines in the rest of Nova Scotia. Non-residential investment has been on a more gradual increasing trend, primarily from investments in Halifax, and has recently plateaued.
In Halifax, residential construction investment had trended up for multi-unit dwellings since late 2024. However, single unit dwelling investments have peaked and started to trend down again. Outside the city, investment in single dwelling unit construction is typically higher than for multi-unit structures. In Halifax, multiple dwelling unit buildings are a slightly larger investment than single dwelling units.
Non-residential building construction has lower values than residential construction.
Halifax commercial building construction has plateaued and begun to decline in recent months, while institutional/government and industrial projects continue to grow. Outside the city, non-residential investment levels have declined in recent months on falling commercial building investments.
Statistics Canada. Table 34-10-0286-01 Investment in building construction
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