The Ontario Construction Secretariat reports that Statistics Canada recently released the Investment in Building Construction data for September. Overall, third-quarter ICI investment in Ontario amounted to $4.47 billion, down 8.7% over Q3 2020, but up slightly (+3.1%) over Q2 2021. Industrial investment in Ontario was down by 10.7% over Q3 2020, but up by 2.7% over Q2 2021. Commercial investment was down by 11.9% year-over-year, and down by 2.0% quarter-over-quarter. Institutional investment in Q3 2021 was up over both Q3 2020 (+1.5%) and Q2 2021 (+18.0%).
Q3 ICI Investment in Ontario (2021 over 2020)
| Q3 2021 | % Change Y/Y | % Change Q/Q | |
| Total ICI | $4.47B | -8.7% | +3.1% |
| Industrial | $797.6M | -10.7% | +2.7% |
| Commercial | $2.57B | -11.9% | -2.0% |
| Institutional | $1.11B | +1.5% | +18.0% |
| Source: Statistics Canada; Unadjusted for Seasonality; Constant Dollars ($2012) | |||
ICI investment in the third quarter increased year-over-year (Q3 2021 over Q3 2020) in four of Ontario’s sixteen metro areas. Kingston’s ICI investment rose by 18.2% compared to the third quarter of 2020, while Greater Sudbury’s rose by 15.8%. Ottawa and Belleville saw slight year-over-year increases (+1.2% and +0.9%, respectively). The remaining twelve metro areas saw drop-offs in year-over-year third-quarter ICI investment: Barrie (-1.6%), Hamilton (-2.9%), Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo (-4.8%), Windsor (-5.8%), London (-7.5%), Toronto (-11.0%), St. Catharines-Niagara (-17.6%), Oshawa (-23.5%), Guelph (-24.9%), Thunder Bay (-25.3%), Peterborough (-38.5%) and Brantford (-54.5%).
Read the full article by the Ontario Construction Secretariat here.