The Economics and Statistics Division maintains archives of previous publications for accountability purposes, but makes no updates to keep these documents current with the latest data revisions from Statistics Canada. As a result, information in older documents may not be accurate. Please exercise caution when referring to older documents. For the latest information and historical data, please contact the individual listed to the right.
<--- Return to Archive
For additional information relating to this article, please contact:
August 21, 2020BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, JUNE 2020 Total residential and non-residential construction
Investment in Nova Scotia building construction increased 4.2 per cent in June 2020 (seasonally adjusted) compared to May 2020. Halifax monthly building construction increased 5.7 per cent in June 2020.
Nationally, investment in building construction increased 12.0 per cent in June 2020, following 62.2 per cent gain in May. Although COVID-19 related workplace guidelines remained in place for June, construction sites were largely back to normal activity, which led to growth in all components of residential and non-residential investment. Despite rebounding strongly in May and June, investment levels remained 3.1 per cent below the level observed in February 2020. Seven provinces showed monthly increase with the largest increase in Quebec (+28.3 per cent), Newfoundland and Labrador (+20.0 per cent), and Prince Edward Island (+14.7 per cent). Building construction investment declined in Saskatchewan (-2.8 per cent), New Brunswick (-0.9 per cent), and Manitoba (-0.8 per cent) in June 2020.
Year-over-year (June 20 vs June 19, seasonally adjusted), building construction investment was up 2.1 per cent in Nova Scotia. Halifax construction activity was up 5.4 per cent. National building construction investment was down -1.4 per cent with six provinces reporting decline over June 2019. The fastest declines over this period were reported in Newfoundland and Labrador (-21.8 per cent) followed by Saskatchewan (-19.1 per cent) and New Brunswick (-18.0 per cent). The fastest increase was reported in Ontario (10.1 per cent).
Total Nova Scotia building construction investment was $274.6 million in June. Halifax building construction totaled $157.6 million in June, while there was $116.9 million in building construction outside of Halifax.
Residential construction
In June 2020, residential construction investment (seasonally adjusted) in Nova Scotia increased 5.7 per cent to $220.9 million. Halifax residential construction increased 7.8 per cent to $128.9 million.
National residential construction increased 12.2 percent month-to-month as all provinces reported higher residential construction investment except Saskatchewan (-1.9 per cent) in June 2020. The fastest increases were reported in Newfoundland and Labrador (+37.0 per cent) followed by Quebec (+28.2 per cent), and Prince Edward Island (+24.5 per cent). Despite rebounding strongly in May and June, residential investment levels remained 8.6 per cent below the level observed in February 2020.
Year-over-year (June 20 vs June 19, seasonally adjusted) residential construction investment was up 1.7 per cent in Nova Scotia. Halifax's residential construction was up 2.9 per cent.
National residential construction was down 8.5 per cent. Eight provinces reported lower residential construction investment for the period, with Manitoba (-23.5 per cent), Newfoundland and Labrador (-22.5 per cent), and Saskatchewan (-19.2 per cent) reporting largest percentage decrease. Residential construction was up in Nova Scotia and Ontario (+1.7 per cent).
Higher renovations in Halifax was the largest factor in the increase compared to June 2019. In June 2020, new construction is up for single and down for multiple dwelling units in Halifax and down for both single and multiple dwellings outside of Halifax.
Non-residential construction
In June, non-residential building construction decreased 1.5 per cent to $53.6 million in Nova Scotia (seasonally adjusted). In Halifax, non-residential construction was down 2.7 per cent to $28.8 million.
National non-residential building construction increased 11.6 per cent in June. Two provinces reported monthly gains, Quebec (+28.5 per cent) and Ontario (+16.2 per cent). The fastest declines were in New Brunswick (-11.0 per cent) and Prince Edward Island (-7.8 per cent). Strong gains in Ontario and Quebec led to national growth in all components of non-residential investment, outweighing declines reported in all other provinces for the month and reached a higher level than the pre COVID-19 levels.
Year-over-year (June 20 vs June 19, seasonally adjusted) Nova Scotia's non-residential construction (seasonally adjusted) was up 4.1 per cent. Halifax's non-residential construction was up 18.5 per cent year-over-year.
National non-residential construction investment increased 13.9 per cent. The fastest growth was reported in Ontario (+40.2 per cent) and Quebec (+28.6 per cent). The fastest decline was reported in New Brunswick (-30.0 per cent), Newfoundland and Labrador (-20.7 per cent), and Saskatchewan (-19.0 per cent).
Year-over-year (June 20 vs June 19) Nova Scotia non-residential building construction increases were concentrated in Halifax commercial projects.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, comparisons of year-to-date averages and sums do not show Nova Scotia’s rapidly-changing economic situation. The DailyStats will focus on year-over-year comparisons, comparing one month with the same month in the prior year. Where possible the DailyStats will make comparisons of seasonally adjusted data from the pre-COVID-19 period (January and February 2020) with the period during which COVID-19 measures were in place from March 2020 onwards.
Statistics Canada. Table 34-10-0175-01 Investment in Building Construction
<--- Return to Archive
