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March 18, 2024BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, JANUARY 2024 Monthly (January 2024 vs December 2023, seasonally adjusted)
Investment in Nova Scotia building construction decreased 0.7% in January 2024 to $503.4 million. Halifax monthly building construction decreased 7.7% to $235.6 million and outside of Halifax building construction was up 6.4% to $267.9 million. Nationally, investment in building construction decreased 0.9% with gains in 6 of 10 provinces. The largest increases were in Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island. New Brunswick reported the largest decline while Alberta little unchanged.
Nova Scotia's January 2024 residential construction investment decreased 1.2% to $413.6 million. Halifax residential construction was down 9.0% to $180.7 million. Outside of Halifax residential construction was up 5.8% to $232.9 million. National residential construction was down 1.4% with increases in 5 of 10 provinces. Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island had the largest increases while New Brunswick had the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building construction increased 1.5% to $89.8 million. In Halifax, non-residential construction was down 3.4% to $54.9 million. Outside of Halifax, non-residential construction was up 10.4% to $34.9 million. National non-residential building construction increased 0.2% in January 2024 with gains in five provinces, led by Manitoba. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest decline while New Brunswick was unchanged
Year-Over-Year (January 2024 vs January 2023)
Compared to January 2023, building construction investment was up 28.0% in Nova Scotia. Halifax construction activity was up 19.2% and outside of Halifax construction activity was up 36.8%. National building construction investment was down 0.1%, with gains in six provinces, led by Prince Edward Island. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest decline.
Residential construction investment was up 26.0% in Nova Scotia compared to January 2023. Halifax's residential construction was up 15.5% and outside of Halifax residential construction was up 35.6%. National residential construction was down 2.1% with gains in five provinces, led by Prince Edward Island. The largest decrease was in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nova Scotia's non-residential construction was up 37.6% compared to January 2023. Halifax's non-residential construction rose 33.2% while outside of Halifax, non-residential construction was up 45.1%. National non-residential construction investment increased 4.7% compared to January 2023. Seven provinces reported increases, with the largest increase in Nova Scotia. The only declines were reported in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec.
Nova Scotia's total building construction investment increased from $393 million in January 2023 to $503 million in January 2024. Residential investment as well as non-residential investment was up across the province.
Across the province construction investment was up for both single dwelling units as well as multiple dwelling unit structures.
Non-residential building construction investment was up in all categories of non-residential construction:commercial, industrial, and institutional/government.
Trends
Building construction has trended up over recent years, particularly from rising residential investment. Residential investment (and therefore total investment) exhibits peaks and troughs around a rising trend. Non-residential investment has been on a more gradual increasing trend, primarily from investments in Halifax.
In Halifax, residential construction investment was trending up for both single and multi-unit dwellings until mid 2022 when both started to decline. However, in recent months, both single and multiple unit construction in Halifax have started to rise again. Outside the city, growth in single dwelling unit construction is stronger than in multi-unit structures.
Non-residential building construction has lower values than residential construction. Halifax commercial building construction has been on increasing trend since the end of 2021. More recently, industrial and government/institutional construction have also started to rise in Halifax. In recent months, there has been growth in commercial, industrial, and government/institutional building construction outside the city.
Statistics Canada. Table 34-10-0286-01 Investment in building construction
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