The Construction Source

Investment in building con- struction plunged 45.9 per cent to $8.4 billion in April compared with the previous month, ac- cording to Statistics Canada. Previously, the largest national decline on record for the cur- rent series (which dates back to 2010) was a 3.9 per cent de- crease in August 2017. Both the residential (–49.2 per cent) and commercial (–38.8 per cent) sectors reported record declines. Investment decreased in all provinces and territories, with Ontario (–$3.2 billion) and Québec (–$2.5 billion) reporting the largest declines. Public health measures put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 severely impacted the construction industry in April, as the country’s largest provinces shut down all non-es- sential jobsites. Residential investment All provinces and territories re- ported double-digit declines in residential investment in April, with Québec (–77.6 per cent to $457 million) and Ontario (–46.8 per cent to $2.4 billion) reporting the largest declines. In Québec, all new residential construction sites remained closed through April 20, while in Ontario, all non-essential renovation construction was halted in accordance with pub- lic health requirements. Declines in the residential sec- tor varied by province. Howev- er, at a national level, the de- clines were felt more sharply in single-family homes (–54.7 per cent) than in multi-family dwell- ings (–43.5 per cent). Residential renovations large- JUNE 2020 Investment in building construction dropped by nearly 50 per cent in April Photo: Joshua Lawrence