Investment in building construction, August 2026
Released: 2026-10-21
$23.5 billion
August 2026
0.1% 
(monthly change)
The total value of investment in building construction edged up $25.1 million (+0.1%) to $23.5 billion in August. An increase in the non-residential sector (+1.0%) was moderated by a slight decline in the residential sector (-0.3%). Year over year, investment in building construction grew 7.9% in August.
On a constant dollar basis (2023=100), the total value of investment in building construction edged down 0.1% from the previous month to $21.2 billion in August, but it was up 4.7% year over year.
Chart 1
Investment in building construction, seasonally adjusted
Institutional and commercial components drive growth in non-residential investment
In August, the value of investment in non-residential building construction increased $70.5 million to $7.4 billion. Both the institutional (+1.9%) and commercial (+0.8%) components contributed to the increase, while the industrial component (-0.1%) showed little change.
Investment in institutional construction rose $43.5 million to $2.4 billion in August. Gains in Ontario (+$35.9 million) and Quebec (+$15.3 million) were moderated by declines in British Columbia (-$4.6 million) and Alberta (-$3.1 million). Investment in schools and education building construction led to the increase in the institutional component, driven by major projects in the Toronto and Montréal census metropolitan areas.
Investment in commercial construction grew $27.9 million to $3.6 billion in August. Ontario (+$18.5 million) and Quebec (+$8.0 million) were the primary contributors to the increase.
Meanwhile, investment in industrial construction edged down $0.8 million to $1.5 billion in August. This modest change was largely attributable to Quebec (-$6.6 million), Alberta (-$3.8 million) and Ontario (-$3.0 million). The gain in British Columbia (+$12.5 million) partially offset the overall decline.
Infographic 1
Investment in residential building construction, August 2026
Chart 2
Investment in residential building construction, seasonally adjusted
Investment in residential construction edges down
In August, investment in residential building construction edged down $45.4 million to $16.1 billion. The single-family component (-1.3%) led the slight decline, while the multi-unit component increased 0.6%.
Investment in single-family home construction was down $98.3 million to $7.6 billion in August. British Columbia (-$46.5 million) and Quebec (-$45.7 million) drove the decrease and were supported by declines across four other provinces and two territories.
Meanwhile, investment in multi-unit construction rose $52.9 million to $8.5 billion in August. Gains in Quebec (+$74.7 million) and British Columbia (+$65.2 million) were partially offset by declines in five provinces and one territory, led by Ontario (-$79.4 million).
Infographic 2
Investment in non-residential building construction, August 2026
For more information on construction, please visit the Construction statistics portal.
For more information on housing, please visit the Housing statistics portal.
Note to readers
This content was created with the assistance of a generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool and refined and verified by Statistics Canada experts. To learn more about how the agency uses AI responsibly, please visit the Trust Centre.
Table 34-10-0286 has been archived on the Statistics Canada website and will no longer be updated but may still be viewed. The successor table is 34-10-0293, and the information from January 2017 onwards that was in table 34-10-0286 is still available in the new table, except for the constant dollar series, which has been rebased to 2023=100. Constant dollar data for January and February 2017 represent an average between the old base year (2012=100) and the new base year (2023=100) and should be used with caution. The 2017 data series will be backcasted and the figures will be revised with the release of our annual revision.
Data are subject to revisions based on late responses, delayed construction start dates for large projects, methodological changes, classification updates, price index updates for constant dollar series, benchmarking and adjustments to ad hoc macroeconomic events. Unadjusted data have been revised back to 2021. Seasonally adjusted data have been revised back to 2018.
Data presented in this release are seasonally adjusted with current dollar values unless otherwise stated. Using seasonally adjusted data allows month-to-month and quarter-to-quarter comparisons by removing the effects of seasonal variations. For information on seasonal adjustment, see the page Seasonal adjustment: Concepts and interpretation, 2026.
Monthly estimates for constant dollars are calculated using quarterly deflators from the Building Construction Price Index (18-10-0289-01). The monthly indexes used for the deflation process were part of a methodology review to increase the quality of the constant dollar and seasonally adjusted series. The indexes previously displayed a step pattern because of less frequent collection.
Detailed data on investment activity by type of building and type of work are now available in the unadjusted current dollar series.
The trade and services subcomponent includes buildings such as retail and wholesale outlets, retail complexes and motor vehicle show rooms. More detailed information can be found on the Integrated Metadatabase at Types of Building Structure - 2.2.1 - Trade and services.
Next release
Data on investment in building construction for September will be released on November 19.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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