Investment in Nonresidential Building Construction Increased by 1.8%

Investment in nonresidential building construction increased 1.8 percent to $11.2 billion in the second quarter. The increase, which followed three quarters of declining investment, was attributable to higher spending in the commercial and industrial components. 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, where investment fell in the commercial and institutional components, and in Greater Sudbury, where all three components were down. Commercial component Investment in commercial building construction rose 2.3 percent from the first quarter to $6.7 billion. Commercial investment increased in every province except Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. The largest increases occurred in Central Canada. In Quebec, commercial investment rose 4.2 percent to $1.2 billion, led by the construction of office and retail buildings. Investment in Ontario increased 2.1 percent to $2.4 billion, led by higher investment in retail buildings. In Alberta, second quarter commercial investment was up 1.4 percent to $1.6 billion. The gain came from spending on office and retail buildings and from living quarters for the oilsands projects. Industrial component Industrial investment rose 6.2 percent 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 percent 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 percent to $474 million, while in British Columbia, spending increased 22.4 percent to $137 million. The largest decline occurred in Newfoundland and Labrador, where investment fell 21.9 percent to $74 million. Investment declined across several categories of industrial buildings, reflecting the completion of some projects. Institutional component In the institutional component, investment declined 1.1 percent from the first quarter to $3.1 million. 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 percent to $271 million, reflecting the completion of several projects in the educational category. In British Columbia, investment decreased 3.5 percent 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 percent to $497 million, mostly as a result of larger investment for educational facilities. Source: aednet