Although overall construction-sector investment recorded a modest increase of 1.5 percent in December, the big news was that investment in the residential sector hit its highest-ever level.

Statistics Canada reports that residential-sector investment rose to $11.1 billion for the month.

Single-unit investment rose for the third straight month, up 2.6 percent. Eight provinces posted gains, with Ontario (+2.8 percent), Quebec (+3.1 percent) and Alberta (+4.6 percent) accounting for the majority of the growth. Multi-unit investment increased 1.2 percent. Notable growth was reported in Ontario and British Columbia, attributable primarily to condominium and apartment building construction.

Meanwhile, non-residential sector investment stayed flat—at $4.4 billion—for the third consecutive month.

Ontario reported the largest gain—up 2.0 percent from November—but that growth was offset by declines in five provinces.

Investment in commercial building construction edged up 0.3 percent in December, driven in large part by Ontario's growth in this sector (+3.6 percent to $1.1 billion). The construction of large projects, such as Amazon's Project Python being built in Ottawa, contributed to the rise.

Institutional investment (+0.9 percent) also increased in December, while industrial investment edged down 0.2 percent, with no significant changes reported in any province.

Quarterly growth driven by residential sector

The total value of investment in building construction edged up 0.3 percent to $46.2 billion in the fourth quarter, driven by gains in the residential sector (+5.0 percent). Investment in residential buildings reported a record quarter, with both single-unit (+7.9 percent) and multi-unit (+2.2 percent) investment posting gains.

Commercial (-13.4 percent), industrial (-6.4 percent) and institutional (-3.2 percent) investments all declined in the fourth quarter, contributing to an overall drop of 9.8 percent in non-residential investment. The declines in the second and fourth quarters of 2020 reflected the impact of COVID-19 in the non-residential sector. Prior to 2020, the last decrease was posted in the third quarter of 2016.