Statistics Canada reported that total investment in building construction rose $540.8 million, or 2.3%, to $23.6 billion in April 2026.
Residential construction accounted for most of the increase. Investment in the residential sector rose 3.1%, while non-residential construction edged up 0.7%. Compared with April 2025, total building investment was up 7.8%.
Statistics Canada also reported the figures on a constant-dollar basis to adjust for price changes. In 2023 dollars, total investment was $21.5 billion, up 2.2% from March and 4.5% from a year earlier.
Residential investment increased $491.9 million to $16.5 billion. Multi-unit construction rose 4.0%, while single-family construction increased 2.0%. The multi-unit category reached $8.8 billion, helped by a $231.2 million gain in British Columbia and increases across most other provinces and territories.
The non-residential side was steadier. The release pointed to a smaller monthly increase there, meaning April's headline growth was mainly a housing-construction story rather than a broad jump across every building category.
The April numbers point to stronger residential momentum, especially in multi-unit projects. That matters for housing policy because investment data are one way to see whether demand, financing conditions, development approvals, construction capacity, and public infrastructure support are turning into actual building activity.