Quebec leads gains in residential building

The substantial gains in Quebec's residential-building investment managed to offset the declines in other provinces, preventing the sector from reporting a decline in January, the latest figures from Statistics Canada show.

Over the month, residential investments in Quebec rose by 5.5% to $2.3bn. The province led the gains recorded in single-unit and multi-unit dwellings.

Investments in housing construction in British Columbia and Nova Scotia also increased, up by 0.1% to $1.9bn and by 0.6% to $224m, respectively.

Also read: Ontario, Quebec lead gains in housing starts

The increases in the three provinces offset the declines reported in seven others.

In the non-residential segment, investments were up in the commercial, institutional, and industrial components. Quebec also registered strong growth in the non-residential segment, with investments hitting a growth rate of 5.1% to $1.1bn.

The commercial component contributed the largest in the non-residential construction growth. It reported a 1.8% gain to $3bn.

Marginal growth was recorded in the institutional and industrial sectors, up by 0.9% to $1.2bn and 0.8% to $928.3m, respectively.