Investment in building construction rose by just under 3% to $21.4 billion in June, after a slight increase of 0.8% in May.

Statistics Canada says those increases partly reflect April's record high of $13.4 billion in total building permits value, since investment levels for a given period are driven by permits issued in prior months.

Investment in residential building construction rose by 3.8% (+$546.7 million) to $15.0 billion in June.

Monthly increases were recorded in nine provinces and two territories, with Quebec (+$265.0 million to $3.3 billion) leading the national gains for the second month in a row.

Ontario (+$73.2 million to $5.6 billion), British Columbia (+$58.9 million to $2.5 billion) and Manitoba (+$47.8 million to $0.5 billion) also recorded increases in residential construction, while Nova Scotia was the only province to post a decrease (-$1.2 million to $468.0 million).

Overall, investment in multi-unit construction grew 6.0% (+$454.7 million) to $8.1 billion in June, driven by Quebec (+$247.6 million to $1.8 billion) and Ontario (+$134.7 million to $2.9 billion).

Single-family home investment was up 1.4% to $6.9 billion in June, following two consecutive monthly declines.

Investment in non-residential construction, meanwhile, rose by just 0.4% (+$26.3 million) to $6.4 billion in June. The increase was led by growth in the commercial component (+$27.2 million to $3.2 billion). Investment in both the industrial and institutional components was virtually unchanged.

Second quarter marks fourth quarterly increase

Investment in building construction reached $62.8 billion in the second quarter. That figure was up 0.4% from the previous quarter, and marked the fourth quarterly increase in a row. Year over year, investment in building construction grew 7.2% in the second quarter.

Investment in residential building construction increased slightly by 0.4% to $43.7 billion in the second quarter. Gains in the multi-unit component (+5.1%; +$1.1 billion) were tempered by declines in the single-family home component (-4.3%; -$923.1 million).

Investment in the non-residential sector edged up 0.3% to $19.1 billion in the second quarter, the 14th consecutive quarterly gain for the sector in Canada. An increase in the institutional component (+1.9% to $5.4 billion) was moderated by declines in both the industrial (-0.6% to $4.1 billion) and commercial (-0.2% to $9.6 billion) components.