Total investment in building construction dropped 3.6 percent to $15.4 billion in March, Statistics Canada shows in its latest report.

Both the residential and non-residential sectors saw drops in investment—largely due to restrictions put in place by governments to control the spread of COVID-19. Drops were hardest in Quebec, which closed down all non-essential building construction on March 25.

Ontario was among the few provinces to report an increase, albeit a slight one of 2 percent. Ontario finished the month with more than $6.5 billion in total investments.

Nationally, investment in non-residential construction dropped by 4.3 percent to $4.9 billion—the first overall decline in such investment since November 2018. All three components reported losses.

The value of commercial investments dropped 4.2 percent to $2.9 billion. While Quebec (-14.1 percent) and British Columbia (-4.6 percent) recorded the largest drops, Ontario was the only province to post an increase (0.3 percent to $1.1 billion). Investment in institutional construction dropped 4.2 percent to $1.1 billion. Quebec again reported the largest drop (of 12.1 percent to $275.9 million), while Ontario recorded an increase of 0.6 percent (to $427 million).

Investment in industrial construction dropped 5.0 percent to $886.7 million in March, with declines in eight provinces. Ontario recorded a decline of $8 million (to $398.6 million).

Meanwhile, investment in residential construction dropped 3.3 percent to $10.5 billion.

Quebec (-18.7 percent to $2.0 billion) and British Columbia (-2.9 percent to $1.9 billion) again recorded the largest declines, while Ontario saw an increase of $132 million, or about 3 percent.

The single-unit dwelling component of residential investment rose slightly in March, up 0.6 percent to $5.3 billion. Ontario led in provincial gains, up 5.8 percent to $2.4 billion, bouncing back from a 6 percent drop from September 2019 to February 2020. Investment in multi-unit construction dropped by 6.9 percent nationally, but rose slightly in Ontario (by $3 million to $2.17 billion).

For the first quarter of the year, Statistics Canada reports that total building construction investment rose 1.0 percent (up $445.8 million) compared with the fourth quarter of 2019. Ontario (up 2.0 percent) led the provinces in investment growth for the quarter.

Residential investment increased by 0.8 percent in the first quarter, with increases in multi-unit dwellings (up 1.3 percent) outpacing those in single-unit dwellings (up 0.3 percent). Quebec and Ontario reported the largest gains in residential construction, while Manitoba posted a notable decline for the quarter.

Non-residential investment increased quarter over quarter, up 1.2 percent to $15.0 billion. Ontario and Quebec had the strongest growth, while British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan reported the largest declines.

All three components of non-residential investment increased in the first quarter of 2020. Commercial investment increased 1.8 percent to $8.9 billion, while institutional investment edged up 0.3 percent to $3.4 billion and industrial investment rose 0.5 percent to $2.7 billion.