Ottawa (Canada), November 11: Canada's investment in building construction fell 7.5 percent to 53 billion Canadian dollars in the third quarter of 2021, following growth over the previous four quarters, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
The residential construction decreased 10.5 percent compared with the second quarter of 2021, with declines in both single- and multi-unit investment.
Non-residential investment rose 1.8 percent to 14.1 billion Canadian dollars, the third consecutive quarterly increase. Institutional building construction in Ontario province and Quebec province led the way, partly reflecting increased investment in educational buildings.
The investment in building construction declined 0.7 percent to 17.5 billion Canadian dollars in September, continuing a downward trend that started in May.
A decrease in the residential sector was partially offset by a small increase in the non-residential sector.
The residential construction investment continued to decrease, down 1.6 percent in September. However, the investment in this component was 21.6 percent higher than the pre-COVID-19 pandemic value in February 2020.
The investment in single-family homes fell 0.6 percent to 7 billion Canadian dollars in September while the multi-unit construction investment fell 2.9 percent to 5.8 billion Canadian dollars.
The difference in value between multi-unit and single-unit investments were narrowing for the past few years, but a noticeable gap has opened up since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The commercial investment grew 1.8 percent to 2.6 billion Canadian dollars in September. Investment in the institutional component rose 2.9 percent to 1.3 billion Canadian dollars.
The industrial construction investment edged up 0.1 percent to 824 million Canadian dollars.
Overall, non-residential construction investment rose 1.8 percent to 4.8 billion Canadian dollars. Despite eight increases since the beginning of the year, non-residential investment was 6.3 percent lower than pre-pandemic values.
Source: Xinhua
