Investment in new housing construction in Saskatchewan fell about 10 per cent between February of 2017 and the same month this year. Nova Scotia was the only other province to record a decline, where it dropped 17.5 per cent. Across the country, there was an average increase of 9.5 per cent. The value of construction in Saskatchewan last February was $81 million.

Investment in non-residential construction was up in all provinces between the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year, except in Saskatchewan. We registered a 3.4 per cent decline. That was mostly the result of a drop in the institutional component. Statistics Canada says there was lower spending on hospitals and health care building construction. That has steadily declined since the third quarter of 2016. Across Canada there was a three percent increase. Between the first quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of this year, investment was off in Saskatchewan by 10 per cent. Across the country, it was up on average by 9 per cent. Investment in Saskatchewan in the first quarter came in at $405 million.

In the Saskatoon census metropolitan area, investment in non-residential construction rose 0.8 per cent between the fourth and first quarters. Nationally, the average was an increase of 3.6 per cent. Year-to-year, investment was off here by 17.4 per cent. Nationally, there was an average increase of 11 per cent. Total investment in the Saskatoon CMA was $164 million in the first quarter.
[gw april 19 2018]