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October 21, 2026BUILDING CONSTRUCTION, AUGUST 2026 Monthly (August vs July 2026, seasonally adjusted)
Investment in Nova Scotia building construction decreased 6.7% in August 2026 to $473.7million, the fastest decline among provinces. Halifax monthly building construction was down 7.0% to $251.3 million while outside of Halifax building construction was down 6.2% to $222.5 million. Nationally, investment in building construction grew 0.1% with gains in six provinces. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the fastest gain in building construction investment.
Nova Scotia's August 2026 residential construction investment fell 8.3% to $351.6 million. Halifax residential construction fell 8.9% to $192.7 million. Outside of Halifax residential construction was down 7.6% to $158.9 million. National residential construction fell 0.3%, despite six provinces reporting gains. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the fastest gain while Prince Edward Island reported the fastest decline.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building construction fell 1.7% to $122.1 million, the fastest decline among provinces. In Halifax, non-residential construction dropped 0.5% to $58.6 million. Outside of Halifax, non-residential construction was down 2.8% to $63.5 million. National non-residential building construction increased 1.0% in August 2026 with increases in eight provinces. Prince Edward Island reported the largest gain.
Year-to-date (January-August 2026 vs January-August 2025)
Compared to January-August 2025, building construction investment was down 4.4% in Nova Scotia. Halifax construction activity was down 13.2% and outside of Halifax construction activity was up 7.0%. National building construction investment was up 6.2%, with gains in five provinces. The fastest growth was reported in Manitoba while Newfoundland and Labrador reported the fastest decline.
Residential construction investment was down 8.7% in Nova Scotia compared to January-August 2025. Halifax's residential construction was down 15.2% while outside of Halifax residential construction was down 0.1%. National residential construction was up 6.8% with gains in five provinces. Manitoba reported the fastest gain, while Newfoundland and Labrador experienced the steepest decline.
Nova Scotia's non-residential construction was up 11.4% compared to first eight months of 2025, the third fastest gain among provinces, behind Alberta and Saskatchewan. Halifax's non-residential construction fell 5.4% while outside of Halifax, non-residential construction was up 32.0%. National non-residential construction investment increased 5.0% compared to first eight months of 2025, with gains in seven provinces. Prince Edward Island reported the steepest decline.
Nova Scotia's total building construction investment decreased from $4,459 million in January-August 2025 to $4,262 million in January-August 2026. Residential investment was lower across the province. Nova Scotia's non-residential investment increased, resulting from gains outside of Halifax.
Residential investment declines were concentrated in multiple unit dwellings across the province. Investment in singles was up across the province.
Non-residential building construction investment was up most for institutional and government projects outside of Halifax. There were smaller gains for commercial investment across the province, as well as industrial investment outside of Halifax. Nova Scotia's total non-residential growth is driven by gains in non-residential outside of Halifax.
In Halifax, the year-to-date decline in building construction was led by a decline in multi-unit residential investment, followed by lower institutional and government investment. Outside of Halifax, gains were led by institutional and 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 although this has declined over the last year driven by declines in Halifax residential investment. Non-residential investment has been on a more gradual increasing trend.
In Halifax since July 2022, multiple dwelling unit buildings have represented a larger share of investment than single dwelling units, with a closing of the gap in recent months. The opposite is true outside of the city. In Halifax, residential construction investment had trended up for multi-unit dwellings from late 2024 to the summer of 2025, when it peaked, with recent dips. Single unit dwelling investments in Halifax grew through 2025 but have since peaked. Outside of Halifax, single unit dwelling investment declined through the second half of 2025 and continued its decline in recent months.
Non-residential building construction has lower values than residential construction. Non-residential investment has been steadily increasing since 2023 due to growth in institutional and government building construction. Since January 2026, growth in those sub sectors has been declining and pulled non-residential investment down.
Halifax institutional and government building construction plateaued in 2025 and has declined in recent months. Halifax's non-residential commercial construction showed a similar pattern but with recent increases. Its industrial projects declining in recent months. Outside the city, non-residential investment levels rose since 2023 on rising institutional and government and commercial building investments while in recent months non-residential investment declined on declining institutional and government building projects.
Statistics Canada. Table 34-10-0293-01 Investment in Building Construction