CONSTRUCTION STATS A selection of data reflecting trends in the Canadian construction industry Investment in building construction, November 2021 (in $Millions) INVESTMENT IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION SHOWS MODEST GAIN Investment in building construction advanced 1.2 per cent, to almost $18 billion in November. All segments, aside from industrial construction, showed increases. In the multi-unit construction sector, gains in Ontario and Quebec paced growth to a rise of 2.4 per cent, reaching $6 billion nationally. Investment in single-family homes increased 0.7 per cent, to $7.1 billion. Overall, residential construction investment rose 1.5 per cent to $13.1 billion in November. Non-residential construction investment edged up just over a half per cent in November to $4.9 billion. Commercial investment posted its fifth consecutive monthly increase, rising 0.6 per cent to $2.7 billion, driven by gains in most areas of the country. Prince Edward Island and Alberta were the only provinces to report decreases. Investment in the institutional component was up 1.4 per cent to $1.4 billion. Quebec posted the largest gain, rising almost five per cent. Industrial construction declined 0.7 per cent to $824 million, despite gains of almost 15 per cent in Nova Scotia.
Canada 17,951.6 Newfoundland and Labrador 100.2 Prince Edward Island 79.8 Nova Scotia 391.2 New Brunswick 208.6 Quebec 3,999.8 Ontario 7,684.8 Manitoba 551.6 Saskatchewan 344.4 British Columbia 1,849.3 Yukon 30.1 Northwest Territories 18.8 13.2
Nunavut
PHOTO: MACROVECTOR / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES
SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA
BUILDING PERMITS ON THE RISE IN MOST SEGMENTS
CONSTRUCTION CAPACITY UTILIZATION RATES REMAIN ABOVE 90% Despite a dip of four per cent, the capacity utilization rate in the Canadian construction segment continues to outperform the average rate across all industries. The rate, which is the ratio of an industry’s actual output to its estimated potential output, shows that the construction sector was running at 90.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2021, as compared to 81.4 per cent of production capacity across all segments included in Statistics Canada’s tracking. The capacity utilization rate was slightly higher than the level recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020 (89.9 per cent) but a large drop in residential construction (down 8.4 per cent) contributing to the decline in this sector. According to the Labour Force Survey, employment levels for construction fell from 1.44 million to 1.42 million during the third quarter of last year.
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In its most recent report, Statistics Canada says that November’s building-permit figures were up almost seven per cent after a bit of a slip in October. While the total value of building permits increased to $11.2 billion in November, a significant decline in institutional permits dragged the non-residential sector to a drop of 3.4 per cent from the previous month. The value of institutional permits fell to its lowest level since April of 2020, dropping almost 50 per cent to $613 million. Other segments of the non-residential sector fared much better, however. Construction intentions in the commercial component rose by 14.3 per cent, led by Alberta where a $316 million permit was approved for the BMO convention centre expansion in Calgary. Also on the rise were industrial permits, which were up more than 45 per cent in a reversal from the October figures. The residential sector was full of highlights as permit values increased to $7.8 billion at the national level. The jump of 12 per cent helped the segment reach its highest level since setting a record in March 2021. Multi-family permits came back nicely from their 8.5 per cent decline in October, rising more than 20 per cent.
November Building Permit Values:
$11.2 billion
COMMERCIAL
+14.3%
INDUSTRIAL
+45.1%
INSTITUTIONAL
-49.2%
SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA
