CONSTRUCTION STATS A selection of data reflecting trends in the Canadian construction industry

NON-RESIDENTIAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES TO POST GAINS

Growth in the non-residential building construction sector was not enough to offset residential declines, resulting in an overall drop of 1.3 per cent in building construction investment in March, reports Statistics Canada. The cumulative total for the month came in at to $20.3 billion. By sector, residential construction investments fell 2.1 per cent to $14.6 billion, while non-residential went up by almost a full per cent, to $5.7 billion.

Although all segments of the non-residential sector were positive, gains were heavily driven by industrial construction investment. That segment increased for a 16th consecutive month, rising 3.4 per cent to $1.2 billion. Projects like the expansion at Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake, B.C., contributed to growth in the institutional construction segment. That segment bumped forward by 0.7 per cent, to $1.4 billion in March. And commercial construction investment nudged slightly forward as well, edging up 0.1 per cent to $3.1 billion. Multi-unit construction fell 2.4 per cent to $6.7 billion in March.

Building Permits Jump 11 Per Cent

Record-highs in the non-residential sector offset weakness in the single-family residential component to help push the total monthly value of building permits in Canada upwards by more than 11 per cent in March, according to figures from Statistics Canada. Overall, $11.8 billion of permits were issued in the month.

The non-residential sector experienced a gain of 32 per cent as the total monthly value of non-residential permits hit a record high of $5.2 billion Among the permits pushing the sector higher were 10 individual non-residential projects that posted values of over $100 million each, the largest of which were the $570 million new General Motors and POSCO Chemical cathode active materials facility in Becancour, Que.

By segment, industrial building permits rose 16.7 per cent to $1.3 billion; commercial permits spiked upwards by 41.5 per cent to $2.8 billion; and institutional permits were up 29.5 per cent at $1.1 billion.

On the residential side, construction intentions stalled. Following a promising February, March saw the value of new residential permits taper off by a percentage point to $6.6 billion. Nationally, permits were issued for 21,400 new dwellings in the month.

20,130,000 Unemployment Rate

5.0% Construction Employment

1,597,600

Construction Employment Rises In April

Across all business sectors, employment in Canada rose by 41,000 in April. These latest figures from Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey indicate that growth was strongest in part-time employment, although full-time work held steady.

The employment rate—the share of the population aged 15 and older who are employed—held steady at 62.4 per cent for the third consecutive month in April.

Within the construction sector, seasonally adjusted gains landed at 7,000 positions for the month, and more than 50,000 over the past 12 months. Compared to April of 2022, there were 52,400 more workers in the sector in April of 2023.