Investment in building construction rose by 2.1% in September, in part due to strong growth in residential construction levels in Ontario.

Statistics Canada reports that the total value of construction investment for the month was $21.6 billion.

Investment in residential building construction rose by 2.9% for the month, adding $433.4 million to reach $15.2 billion. Ontario led the country with an increase of $232.1 million.

Single-family home investment rose 4.0% (+$271.1 million) to $7.0 billion in September. Investment in multi-unit construction increased 2.0% (+$162.4 million) to $8.2 billion. Ontario was among the leaders in both increases.

Non-residential construction investment, meanwhile, edged up by 0.3% (+$19.0 million) to $6.4 billion for the month.

The industrial component reported the greatest increase at 1.3% (+$18.3 million) to reach $1.4 billion.

Commercial construction investment grew by 0.4% (+$12.5 million) to $3.2 billion. Monthly increases were recorded in three provinces and one territory, with Ontario (+$19.4 million) leading the gains.

Institutional construction was the only component to report a decrease in September. Investment declined by 0.6% (-$11.8 million) after reaching a record high in August.

Third-quarter investment levels up year over year

Investment in building construction was $63.8 billion in the third quarter, up 1.7% from the previous quarter. Year over year, investment in building construction grew 7.5% in the third quarter.

Investment in residential building construction rose by 2.2% to $44.7 billion in the third quarter, marking the fifth consecutive quarterly gain. The multi-unit component increased 4.5% to $24.3 billion, while the single-family homes component edged down 0.4% to $20.4 billion.

Investment in the non-residential sector edged up 0.6% to $19.1 billion in the third quarter.

Increases in the commercial (+1.0% to $9.6 billion) and institutional (+1.0% to $5.4 billion) components were partially offset by the decline in the industrial component (-0.8% to $4.1 billion).