House construction spending dips 20% in Alberta

Investment in new housing construction in Alberta plummeted right along with the price of oil over the past year, Statistics Canadaconfirmed in a report released on Monday.

Spending was down 19.3 per cent year-over-year as of January, dropping from almost $850 million to $685 million.

• MORE ALBERTA NEWS|Calgary-Greenway byelection to replace Manmeet Bhullar full of issues, lacking voters
• MORE ALBERTA NEWS| How Alberta and the energy sector look through the eyes of Canadians

Apartment and apartment-condominium buildings were the exception, asspending on those rose 22.5 per centreaching $195 million.

Nationallythe picture is brighter, with spending surges in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia leading to a 3.9 per cent jump to $3.7 billion.

Spending in Ontario increased over the past year by23.4 per cent, reaching $1.5billion in January. The gains were led by higher spending on single-family homes, apartments, condos and row houses.

"Investment in new housing construction declined in the remaining provinces in January compared with January2015, with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba registering the largest decreases," the report said.

In British Columbia, spending on new housing was up 14.3 per cent, reaching $695 million.

Spending was up 1.1 per cent in Quebec, totalling $512 million compared with a year ago.