Building construction, March 2024

The following information was released on May 17, 2024. Relevant portions have been highlighted below, and for full details from this dataset, please click here.

Monthly (March 2024 vs February 2024, seasonally adjusted)

  • Investment in Nova Scotia building construction increased 10.5% in March 2024 to $574.9 million.
  • Halifax monthly building construction rose 21.3% to $320.7 million and outside of Halifax building construction was down 0.7% to $254.3 million.
  • Nova Scotia’s non-residential building construction increased 3.0% to $93.3 million.
  • In Halifax, non-residential construction was down 1.3% to $53.5 million.
  • Outside of Halifax, non-residential construction was up 9.5% to $39.9 million.
Year-to-date (January-March 2024 vs January-March 2023)

  • Compared to January-March 2023, building construction investment was up 23.3% in Nova Scotia.
  • Nova Scotia’s total building construction investment increased from $1.30 billion in January-March 2023 to $1.60 billion in January-March 2024.
  • Halifax construction activity was up 35.3% and outside of Halifax construction activity was up 12.8%.
  • Nova Scotia’s non-residential construction was up 35.8% compared to January-March 2023.
  • Halifax’s non-residential construction rose 26.4% while outside of Halifax, non-residential construction was up 52.3%.
  • Non-residential building construction investment was up in all categories of non-residential construction: commercial, industrial, and institutional/government.
Trends
  • Building construction has trended up over recent years, particularly from rising residential investment.
  • Non-residential investment has been on a more gradual increasing trend, primarily from investments in Halifax.
  • Industrial and government/institutional construction have been increasing in Halifax.
  • In recent months, there has been growth in commercial, industrial, and government/institutional building construction outside the city.