October 22, 2026
Statistics Canada reports that investment in building construction across Canada edged up 0.1% in August to $23.5 billion, as growth in non-residential construction offset a slight decline in residential investment.
Compared with August of the previous year, total building construction investment increased 7.9%.
On a constant-dollar basis, using 2023 as the reference year, investment edged down 0.1% month over month to $21.2 billion but remained 4.7% higher year over year.
Investment in non-residential building construction increased by $70.5 million in August to reach $7.4 billion.
Institutional construction led the monthly increase, rising 1.9%, while commercial investment increased 0.8%. Industrial construction was relatively unchanged, declining 0.1%.
Investment in institutional construction increased by $43.5 million to $2.4 billion, driven primarily by Ontario and Quebec.
Ontario recorded a $35.9 million increase, while Quebec added $15.3 million. These gains were partially offset by decreases of $4.6 million in British Columbia and $3.1 million in Alberta.
Schools and educational building construction were key contributors to institutional growth, supported by major projects in the Toronto and Montréal census metropolitan areas.
Canadian commercial construction investment increased by $27.9 million in August to $3.6 billion.
Ontario contributed an additional $18.5 million, while Quebec added $8 million, making the two provinces the primary drivers of monthly commercial construction growth.
Industrial construction investment, meanwhile, edged down by $0.8 million to $1.5 billion.
Declines in Quebec, Alberta and Ontario were largely offset by a $12.5 million increase in British Columbia.
Residential building construction moved in the opposite direction, with investment declining by $45.4 million in August to $16.1 billion.
The decrease was driven by single-family construction, which fell 1.3%.
Investment in single-family homes declined by $98.3 million to $7.6 billion, with British Columbia and Quebec accounting for much of the decrease. British Columbia declined by $46.5 million, while Quebec fell by $45.7 million.
Despite the overall decline in residential investment, multi-unit construction increased 0.6%, adding $52.9 million to reach $8.5 billion.
Quebec recorded a $74.7 million increase in multi-unit investment, while British Columbia added $65.2 million.
Those gains were partially offset by declines across several provinces and one territory, led by a $79.4 million decrease in Ontario.
The August results highlight differing conditions within Canada’s building construction market. Institutional and commercial projects supported non-residential growth, while residential investment was divided between declining single-family construction and continued gains in multi-unit development.
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