OTTAWA — Investment in non-residential building construction totalled $10.6-billion in the second quarter, a 2.8 per cent drop from the first quarter and the second straight quarterly decrease.
Statistics Canada blames the drop on declines in commercial and industrial building construction.
The agency reports investors spent $6.3-billion on commercial projects, down 4.1 per cent.
Investment in industrial construction fell 7.9 per cent to $1.2-billion.
Institutional building construction continued to rise, up 2.1 per cent to $3.1-billion.
The largest dollar contributions to the quarterly decrease were Alberta (down 7.4 per cent to $2.5-billion) and British Columbia (down 5.2 per cent to $1.3-billion) – both mainly due to lower spending on commercial projects.
Saskatchewan posted the largest increase, as a result of higher spending in all three components.
Investment fell in 19 of 34 cities. The largest drops were posted in Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal and were mainly due to declines in commercial construction projects.
© Canadian Press
