July 19, 2012

Non-residential building construction investment increases, reports StatsCan

OTTAWA

Investment in non-residential building construction increased 1.8 per cent to $11.2 billion in the second quarter, reports Statistics Canada.

The increase comes after three quarters of declining investment and was attributed to higher spending in the commercial and industrial sectors.

Investment rose in seven provinces, with the largest increases in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta.

In Ontario and Alberta, the gains were led by the industrial and commercial components, while in Quebec, they occurred in commercial and institutional spending.

All three investment components declined in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, while in Newfoundland and Labrador, investment decreased in the industrial and institutional components.

Investment rose in 17 of the 34 census metropolitan areas.

The biggest increases were in Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver. All three components were up in Toronto and Vancouver, while commercial and industrial spending contributed to the gains in Montréal.

The largest decreases occurred in St. Catharines–Niagara, Ont., where investment fell in the commercial and institutional components, and in Greater Sudbury, Ont., where all three components were down.

Investment in commercial building construction rose 2.3 per cent from the first quarter to $6.7 billion. Commercial investment increased in every province except Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick and the largest increases occurred in Central Canada.

In Quebec, commercial investment rose 4.2 per cent to $1.2 billion, led by the construction of office and retail buildings. Investment in Ontario increased 2.1 per cent to $2.4 billion, led by higher investment in retail buildings.

In Alberta, second quarter commercial investment was up 1.4 per cent to $1.6 billion. The gain came from spending on office and retail buildings and from living quarters for the oilsands projects.

Industrial investment rose 6.2 per cent to $1.4 billion in the second quarter, the third consecutive quarterly gain.

Spending was higher in seven provinces, with the largest increases in Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia.

Alberta led with an 11.2 per cent increase to $333 million, attributable to investment growth in utility and maintenance buildings.

The increases in Ontario and British Columbia were led by rising investment in manufacturing and mining facilities. In Ontario, investment was up 6.7 per cent to $474 million, while in British Columbia, spending increased 22.4 per cent to $137 million.

The largest decline occurred in Newfoundland and Labrador, where investment fell 21.9 per cent to $74 million. Investment declined across several categories of industrial buildings, reflecting the completion of some projects.

Meanwhile, investment declined 1.1 per cent from the first quarter to $3.1 million in the institutional component.

This was the ninth consecutive quarterly decrease, although the pace of decline was slower in the second quarter. Institutional investment declined in seven provinces. The largest decrease occurred in Alberta, where investment declined 5.3 per cent to $271 million, reflecting the completion of several projects in the educational category.

In British Columbia, investment decreased 3.5 per cent to $348 million. The decline was led by lower spending for educational buildings and health care facilities. The largest increase was in Quebec, where institutional spending rose 2.8 per cent to $497 million, mostly as a result of larger investment for educational facilities.

DCN NEWS SERVICES

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