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July 18, 2025BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, MAY 2025 Monthly (May 2025 vs April 2025, seasonally adjusted)
Investment in Nova Scotia building construction rose 4.4% in May 2025 to $590.2 million. Halifax monthly building construction was up 3.1% to $306.2 million while outside of Halifax building construction was up 5.9% to $284.0 million. Nationally, investment in building construction decreased 2.2% with declines in six provinces. Prince Edward Island reported the fastest decline in building construction investment, while Newfoundland and Labrador had the largest gain.
Nova Scotia's May 2025 residential construction investment grew 4.4% to $463.5 million. Halifax residential construction was up 2.2% to $236.3 million. Outside of Halifax residential construction was up 6.7% to $227.2 million. National residential construction decreased by 3.0%, with declines in six provinces. Newfoundland and Labrador had the largest gain while Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick reported the fastest declines.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building construction rose 4.7% to $126.6 million, the fastest gain among provinces. In Halifax, non-residential construction was up 6.1% to $69.9 million. Outside of Halifax, non-residential construction was up 3.0% to $56.7 million. National non-residential building construction was down 0.4% in May 2025 with declines in six provinces, led by Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Year-to-date (January-May 2025 vs January-May 2024)
Compared to January-May 2024, building construction investment was up 11.6% in Nova Scotia. Halifax construction activity was up 18.0% and outside of Halifax construction activity was up 4.0%. National building construction investment was up 7.5%, with gains in eight provinces led by Prince Edward Island. British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador reported declines.
Residential construction investment was up 9.4% in Nova Scotia compared to January-May 2024. Halifax's residential construction was up 18.3% and outside of Halifax residential construction was down 0.6%. National residential construction was up 8.9% with gains in seven provinces. Prince Edwards Island reported the fastest gain, while British Columbia experienced the steepest decline.
Nova Scotia's non-residential construction was up 21.0% compared to January-May 2024. Halifax's non-residential construction rose 16.7% while outside of Halifax, non-residential construction was up 27.1%. National non-residential construction investment increased 4.5% compared to January-May 2024. All provinces reported gains except Québec. Prince Edward Island reported the fastest gain.
Nova Scotia's total building construction investment increased from $2,542 million in January-May 2024 to $2,836 million in January-May 2025. Non-residential investment was up across the province. Overall building investment outside Halifax rose as an increase in non-residential investment offset a slight decline in residential investment outside of Halifax.
Nova Scotia residential building construction investment growth was driven by an increase in multiple dwelling building construction across the province, offsetting declines in single dwelling building construction across the province.
Non-residential building construction investment was up in all categories. The largest increases were in institutional and government building construction investment.
All categories of building construction investment increased in Halifax with the exception of single dwelling units, with the largest increase in multiple dwelling units. In the rest of Nova Scotia residential building construction investment declined in single dwelling units and rose in multiple dwelling units resulting in overall decline in residential building construction. For non-residential building construction in the rest of Nova Scotia, the fastest growth was in institutional/government investment.
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.
In Halifax, residential construction investment had trended up for multi-unit dwellings since late 2024. However, single unit dwelling 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 larger share of investment than single dwelling units.
Non-residential building construction has lower values than residential construction.
Halifax commercial building construction has plateaued and begun to decline in recent months, while institutional/government and industrial projects continue to grow. Outside the city, non-residential investment levels continue to grow on rising institutional/government and commercial building investments.
Statistics Canada. Table 34-10-0293-01 Investment in Building Construction
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