The Construction Source

ly ground to a halt across the country, with the exception of certain activities such as emer- gency and exterior repairs, as many projects were cancelled or deferred to comply with pub- lic health requirements. On the other hand, new resi- dential construction was able to progress across most of the country in April. Excluding Qué- bec, new residential construc- tion increased 11.7 per cent on an unadjusted basis compared with April 2019, as construction firms adapted to public health requirements such as improved on-site sanitation, physical dis- tancing, and staggered work schedules. Non-residential investment Investment in the commercial sector plummeted 38.8 per cent to $3 billion in April com- pared with the previous month. During this time, non-residen- tial construction was largely shut down in Ontario and Qué- bec, while other provinces and territories allowed work to con- tinue with strict public health measures in place. As a result, five provinces—including Man- itoba (1.6 per cent), Saskatche- wan (1.3 per cent), and British Columbia (0.9 per cent)—post- ed modest gains for the sector. British Columbia’s increase in April followed five consecutive monthly declines. The commercial component posted the largest decline (–49.4 per cent), with notable decreases in Ontario (–$905.3 million) and Québec (–$522.8 million). Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and British Columbia were the only provinces to post gains for this component. The institutional component tumbled 22.2 per cent (–$247.5 million), with the largest decline in Québec (–$193.4 million). Conversely, modest gains were reported in British Columbia ($3.8 million). The industrial component de- creased 25.3 per cent to $664.4 million. Québec (–92.8 per cent) and Ontario (–18.7 per cent) contributed the most to the de- cline, while four provinces re- ported small gains. THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE CANADA Source: https://www.construc - tioncanada.net/investment-in- building-construction-dropped- by-nearly-50-per-cent-in-april/