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October 17, 2024BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, AUGUST 2024 Monthly (August 2024 vs July 2024, seasonally adjusted)
Investment in Nova Scotia building construction increased by 4.8% in August 2024 to $596.0 million. Halifax monthly building construction grew 7.6% to $318.8 million and outside of Halifax building construction was up 1.7% to $277.2 million. Nationally, investment in building construction edged up by 0.2% with increases in six provinces. Prince Edward Island reported the largest gain while New Brunswick reported the biggest drop.
Nova Scotia's August 2024 residential construction investment increased by 5.4% to $487.3 million. Halifax residential construction was up 8.2% to $252.0 million. Outside of Halifax residential construction was up 2.5% to $235.3 million. National residential construction was edged down 0.1% despite gains in six provinces. Prince Edward Island had the largest gain, with New Brunswick reporting the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building construction grew 2.3% to $108.6 million. In Halifax, non-residential construction was up 5.4% to $66.7 million. Outside of Halifax, non-residential construction was down 2.3% to $41.9 million. National non-residential building construction increased 1.0% in August 2024 with gains in seven provinces, led by British Columbia. Prince Edward Island reported the largest decline in non-residential building construction.
Year-to-date (January-August 2024 vs January-August 2023)
Compared to January-August 2023, building construction investment was up 25.0% in Nova Scotia. Halifax construction activity was up 32.9% and outside of Halifax construction activity was up 17.2%. National building construction investment was up 6.2%, with gains all provinces except Newfoundland and Labrador. Prince Edward Island reported the largest gain.
Residential construction investment was up 22.8% in Nova Scotia compared to January-August 2023. Halifax's residential construction was up 35.6% and outside of Halifax residential construction was up 11.8%. National residential construction was up 6.6% with gains in all provinces except Newfoundland and Labrador and Ontario. Prince Edward Island reported the fastest gain.
Nova Scotia's non-residential construction was up 35.7% compared to January-August 2023, the fastest gain among provinces. Halifax's non-residential construction rose 23.2% while outside of Halifax, non-residential construction was up 58.1%. National non-residential construction investment increased 5.3% compared to January-August 2023. Eight provinces reported increases while Newfoundland and Labrador and Québec reported declines.
Nova Scotia's total building construction investment increased from $3.55 billion in January-August 2023 to $4.44 billion in January-August 2024. Residential investment as well as non-residential investment were up across the province.
Residential construction was up primarily on gains in multiple unit dwellings, both inside Halifax and around the rest of the province. Construction spending for single family dwelling units was also up for Halifax as well as across the rest of 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 year-to-date growth 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 indusrial 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. Non-residential investment has been on a more gradual increasing trend, primarily from investments in Halifax.
In Halifax, residential construction investment has trended up for both single and multi-unit dwellings since late 2023. 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 commercial building construction had been on an increasing trend since the end of 2021 and reached its peak in 2023. Commercial construction has shown some limited growth in recent months.
Government/institutional construction has been increasing since mid-2022.
Industrial investment has recently plateaued in Halifax, but continues to grow outside the city.
Statistics Canada. Table 34-10-0286-01 Investment in building construction