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April 12, 2023BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, FEBRUARY 2023 Month-over-month (February 2023 vs January 2023, seasonally adjusted)
Investment in Nova Scotia building construction increased 13.8% in February 2023 to $460.8 million. Halifax monthly building construction increased 1.5% to $206.2 million and outside of Halifax building construction was up 26.3% to $254.6 million. Nationally, investment in building construction increased 1.0%. Monthly building construction was up in four provinces as Nova Scotia reported the largest gain. Saskatchewan posted the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's February 2023 residential construction investment increased 15.9% to $396.8 million. Halifax residential construction was up 1.3% to $164.3 million. Outside of Halifax residential construction was up 29.0% to $232.5 million. National residential construction was up 1.1% as four provinces reported higher residential construction investment. Nova Scotia reported the largest increase and Saskatchewan reported the largest decrease.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building construction increased 2.6% to $64.0 million. In Halifax, non-residential construction was up 2.4% to $41.9 million. Outside of Halifax, non-residential construction was up 3.0% to $22.1 million. National non-residential building construction was up 0.8% in February 2023. Seven provinces reported increases, with the largest increase in Prince Edward Island. The largest decline was in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Year-to-date (January-February 2023 vs January-February 2022, seasonally adjusted)
Compared to January-February 2022, building construction investment was down 12.6% in Nova Scotia. Halifax construction activity was down 22.8% and outside of Halifax construction activity was down 0.7%. National building construction investment was up 2.9% with increases in five provinces, led by British Columbia. The largest decline was in Prince Edward Island.
Residential construction investment was down 14.0% in Nova Scotia compared to January-February 2022. Halifax's year-to-date residential construction was down 28.5% and outside of Halifax, residential construction was up 2.4% year-to-date. National residential construction was up 0.5%, led by British Columbia. The largest decrease was in Prince Edward Island.
Nova Scotia's non-residential construction was down 3.1% compared to January-February 2022. Halifax's non-residential construction rose 12.3 while outside of Halifax, non-residential construction was down 23.1%. National non-residential construction investment increased 9.9% compared to January-February 2022. Seven provinces reported increases, with the largest increases in Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Manitoba. The largest decline was reported in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nova Scotia's total building construction investment decline from $990 million in January-February 2022 to $866 million was mostly attributable to declines in residential investment in Halifax. Halifax residential decline was more notable in single dwellings than multiple dwellings. The small non-residential decrease occurred with lower investment in industrial and institutional/governmental buildings offsetting higher commercial investment.
Trends
Building construction increased over the recent years with rising residential investment in Halifax and outside Halifax. Residential building construction peaked in 2022 and has been on downward trend in recent months. Non-residential building construction has been maintaining a slightly elevated level in Halifax in the most recent periods.
In Halifax, residential construction investment was trending up for both single and multi-unit dwellings until mid 2022. However, in recent months both are declining. 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 and industrial building construction have been on increasing trend since the end of 2021, however industrial construction is declining in recent months. Outside the city, non-residential construction trended down in 2022 for all three categories of non-residential building: commercial, industrial, and government/institutional and continues declining trend in industrial and government/institutional projects in early 2023.
Statistics Canada. Table 34-10-0175-01 Investment in Building Construction
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