By Investment in non-residential building construction reached $12.9 billion in the fourth quarter, up 1.1% from the previous quarter. It was the second consecutive quarterly increase and was led by higher spending on commercial building construction.
Chart 1
Investment in non-residential building construction
Chart description: Investment in non-residential building construction
CSV version of chart 1
Overall, total investment rose in six provinces in the fourth quarter, with the largest gains occurring in Alberta and Quebec. The increase in Alberta was spread across the commercial, industrial and institutional components, while in Quebec, the gain was in the institutional and commercial components.
In Ontario, the rise in the commercial component was not enough to offset declines in the institutional and industrial components.
Census metropolitan areasInvestment was up in 18 of the 34 census metropolitan areas. The largest increases were in Edmonton and Montréal.
In Edmonton, the gain was mostly attributable to commercial investment, while in Montréal, it came from higher construction spending for institutional and commercial buildings.
London and Sherbrooke posted the largest declines, mostly as a result of decreases in the institutional and commercial components.
Commercial componentInvestment in commercial building construction reached $7.8 billion in the fourth quarter, up 1.7% from the previous quarter. This was the second consecutive quarterly increase and reflected higher spending in the construction of office and recreational buildings as well as retail and wholesale outlets in several provinces.
The largest contribution in the commercial component came from Alberta, where investment rose 4.9% to $1.8 billion. The increase resulted from rising investment among several categories of commercial buildings.
Investment in Ontario increased 1.9% to $2.9 billion, mostly attributable to higher spending for recreational and office buildings.
Newfoundland and Labrador posted the largest decline, as a result of lower spending spread among several commercial building categories.
Chart 2
Commercial, institutional and industrial components
Chart description: Commercial, institutional and industrial components
Institutional componentIn the institutional component, investment increased 0.3% to $3.4 billion, the second straight quarterly gain. Institutional investment rose in eight provinces.
The largest increases occurred in Quebec and Alberta. In Quebec, spending was up 4.4% to $754 million, reflecting a rise in investment in health care facilities and other government buildings. In Alberta, investment rose 4.2% to $405 million, the sixth consecutive quarterly gain for the province. The advance was led by higher spending in the construction of health care facilities.
The only declines occurred in Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador. In Ontario, institutional investment fell 5.0% to $1.3 billion, mostly as a result of lower spending for educational buildings.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, investment declined for the eighth consecutive quarter, falling 5.2% to $23 million. The decrease was mostly the result of lower spending on the construction of nursing home buildings.
Industrial componentInvestment in industrial projects rose 0.3% to $1.8 billion in the fourth quarter, the second consecutive quarterly gain. Growth in this component was mainly from the construction of primary industry buildings and manufacturing plants in six provinces.
Provincially, the largest increase was in Alberta, where investment rose 4.7% to $423 million. Most of the gain was attributable to manufacturing plants.
British Columbia and Ontario posted the largest declines in the fourth quarter. British Columbia saw industrial investment decline 5.2% to $174 million, mostly because of lower construction of manufacturing plants. In Ontario, industrial investment decreased 1.5% to $597 million, mainly because of lower spending on utility buildings and manufacturing plants.
Unless otherwise stated, this release presents seasonally adjusted data expressed in current dollars, which facilitates comparisons by removing the effects of seasonal variations. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see http://www.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?catno=11-010-X201000311141
