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February 13, 2025BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, DECEMBER AND ANNUAL 2024 Monthly (December 2024 vs November 2024, seasonally adjusted)
Investment in Nova Scotia building construction increased by 6.2% in December 2024 to $563.5 million. Halifax monthly building construction was up 15.1% to $316.3 million while outside of Halifax building construction was down 3.4% to $247.2 million. Nationally, investment in building construction increased 1.9%, with increases in six provinces. Prince Edward Island reported the largest gain while Newfoundland and Labrador reported the biggest drop.
Nova Scotia's December 2024 residential construction investment increased by 7.7% to $456.3 million. Halifax residential construction was up 20.1% to $249.9 million. Outside of Halifax residential construction was down 4.3% to $206.4 million. National residential construction was up by 2.2% with gains in six provinces. Saskatchewan had the largest gain and Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building construction increased 0.3% to $107.2 million. In Halifax, non-residential construction was down 0.4% to $66.4 million. Outside of Halifax, non-residential construction was up 1.5% to $40.8 million. National non-residential building construction was up 1.3% in December 2024 with gains in eight provinces, led by Prince Edward Island. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest decline in non-residential building construction.
Annual (2024 vs 2023)
Compared to 2023, building construction investment was up 21.6% in Nova Scotia in 2024. Halifax construction activity was up 26.3% and outside of Halifax construction activity was up 16.7%. National building construction investment was up 5.8%, with gains in all provinces except Newfoundland and Labrador. Prince Edward Island reported the largest gain.
Residential construction investment was up 19.7% in Nova Scotia compared to 2023. Halifax's residential construction was up 27.7% and outside of Halifax residential construction was up 12.4% in 2024. National residential construction was up 6.1% with gains in all provinces except Newfoundland and Labrador. Prince Edward Island reported the fastest gain.
Nova Scotia's non-residential construction was up 30.5% in 2024 compared to 2023, the fastest gain among provinces. Halifax's non-residential construction rose 21.3% while outside of Halifax, non-residential construction was up 47.1%. National non-residential construction investment increased 5.0% compared to 2023. Eight provinces reported increases with Newfoundland and Labrador and Québec reporting the only declines.
Nova Scotia's total building construction investment increased from $5.42 billion in 2023 to $6.58 billion in 2024. Residential investment as well as non-residential investment were up across the province.
Residential construction investments were up for multiple unit dwellings and single dwelling units across the province.
Non-residential building construction investment was up in all categories of non-residential construction across the province: commercial, industrial, and institutional/government.
All categories and locations of building construction investment reported growth in 2024, with the fastest increases (in percentage terms) for institutional/governmental building projects - particularly outside Halifax. In Halifax, the next fastest percentage gains in construction were reported in industrial buildings and multiple unit dwellings; the slowest gain was reported for commercial buildings in Halifax. Outside the city, the next fastest percentage gains after institutional/governmental buildings were in multiple unit dwellings and industrial buildings; single dwelling units posted the slowest growth outside the city.
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 and has recently been declining. Non-residential investment has been on a more gradual increasing trend, primarily from investments in Halifax.
In Halifax, residential construction investment had trended up for both single and multi-unit dwellings since late 2023. However, both single and multi-unit dwellings investments have peaked and started to trend down again. Outside the city, investment in single dwelling unit construction is typically higher than for multi-unit structures. In Halifax, multiple dwelling unit buildings are a slightly larger investment than single dwelling units.
Non-residential building construction has lower values than residential construction.
Halifax non-residential building construction has rebounded in recent months on both institutional/government and commercial projects. Outside the city, rising non-residential investment levels have lately been driven by institutional/government projects.
Nova Scotia building construction rebounded from lower growth in 2023 to growth similar to what was observed in 2021 and 2022. Building construction outside of Halifax grew the most since 2021 on strong growth in the residential sector.
Statistics Canada. Table 34-10-0286-01 Investment in building construction
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