Investment in new home construction slipped in Alberta in August compared with a year ago.
Statistics Canada reported Monday that investment fell by seven per cent to $751.3 million in the province as Alberta continues to experience a slow economic recovery from the recession of 2015 and 2016.
Nationally, investment in new housing construction decreased 2.2 per cent from August 2017 to $5.1 billion in August, the first year-over-year decline since May 2014, said the federal agency, adding that the decrease in August was attributable to lower spending on single homes, semi-detached homes and row houses.
“Investment declined in five provinces, with Ontario (-$121.1 million), Alberta (-$56.9 million) and Saskatchewan (-$38.2 million) reporting the largest declines. In all three provinces, lower investment in single homes was the main contributor to the decrease. Conversely, British Columbia reported the strongest growth, a result of increased spending on apartment building construction,” said StatsCan.
“In Nova Scotia (+$6.7 million) and Prince Edward Island (+$4.0 million), investment was up for all components. In Nova Scotia, the gain was due to increased spending on single homes (+$3.3 million) and apartment building (+$2.5 million) construction. In Prince Edward Island, the increase was led by apartment building construction (+$2.6 million).”
StatsCan said investment in single home construction across Canada was down by 18.6 per cent or $513.9 million compared with August 2017. Spending on single home construction declined in eight provinces, mainly in Ontario (-$240.4 million), Quebec (-$97.6 million) and Alberta (-$82.8 million).
“Spending on row unit construction declined by $53.1 million (-10.1 per cent) in August. Spending was down in six provinces, primarily reflecting a $44.4 million drop in Ontario compared with the same month last year.
Apartment building construction was up 27.4 per cent (+$460.9 million) compared with August 2017. Construction in this component was up in every province, led by Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec. Apartment building construction grew by 32.3 per cent (+$171.7 million) in Ontario, while British Columbia (+26.1 per cent or +$135.2 million) posted its largest year-over-year increase since December 2016,” added the federal agency.
Mario Toneguzzi is a veteran Calgary-based journalist who worked for 35 years for the Calgary Herald, including 12 years as a senior business writer.
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