August Building Investment Flat at $23.5B: Toronto School Projects Lift Ontario as Multi-Unit Spending Falls

Statistics Canada released August 2026 investment in building construction data on October 21, and the national number barely moved: total investment edged up $25.1 million (+0.1%) to $23.5 billion. Non-residential spending rose 1.0%, while residential slipped 0.3%. Year over year, total investment is up 7.9%.

On a constant-dollar basis (2023=100), investment edged down 0.1% to $21.2 billion, but was still 4.7% higher than a year earlier. For Ontario and GTA readers, the story sits underneath that flat headline: Ontario led the gains in institutional and commercial building, with school construction in the Toronto area singled out, while Ontario posted the largest provincial drop in multi-unit residential investment.

National: non-residential up, residential down a touch

Non-residential investment increased $70.5 million to $7.4 billion. Institutional construction rose 1.9% (+$43.5 million to $2.4 billion), commercial grew 0.8% (+$27.9 million to $3.6 billion), and industrial was essentially flat at −0.1% (−$0.8 million to $1.5 billion).

Residential investment edged down $45.4 million to $16.1 billion. This time the split ran the opposite way from July: single-family investment fell 1.3% (−$98.3 million to $7.6 billion), while multi-unit investment rose 0.6% (+$52.9 million to $8.5 billion).

Ontario: schools and commercial up, multi-unit down

Ontario was the largest contributor to the institutional gain, adding $35.9 million, ahead of Quebec (+$15.3 million). StatCan says school and education building construction led the institutional increase, driven by major projects in the Toronto and Montréal census metropolitan areas. Ontario also led commercial growth (+$18.5 million, with Quebec at +$8.0 million). In industrial, Ontario dipped $3.0 million, one of several provincial declines partly offset by British Columbia (+$12.5 million).

The residential picture is less encouraging for the province. Nationally, multi-unit investment rose because of Quebec (+$74.7 million) and British Columbia (+$65.2 million). Those gains were partly offset by declines in five provinces and one territory, and Ontario led them with a −$79.4 million drop. That follows a −$43.9 million Ontario multi-unit decline in July, so the province has now posted two straight monthly declines in apartment and condo construction spending.

What this means for GTA buyers, sellers and agents

Investment in building construction measures the dollars being put into work on site. It is not a measure of sales, prices or permits. Even so, it is a useful check on whether the supply pipeline is actually being built. The Ontario multi-unit decline lines up with the slowdown in new construction we covered from CMHC's September housing starts, where Toronto actual starts fell to 1,440 from 3,678 a year earlier. Fewer apartment and condo projects breaking ground eventually means less spending on site, and over time fewer completions coming to market.

For buyers and renters, that matters further out than this year. Today's GTA condo market is still working through a large stock of completed units, but softer multi-unit construction activity points to a thinner flow of new supply later in the decade. For sellers and agents, the institutional and commercial gains, school projects in the Toronto area in particular, support local construction work and neighbourhood infrastructure, but they do not add homes. One month is not a trend, and these figures are seasonally adjusted and subject to revision, so watch the September release before drawing firm conclusions.

Next release: September 2026 investment in building construction on November 19, 2026.

Sources

• Statistics Canada — The Daily: Investment in building construction, August 2026 (released October 21, 2026)
• Statistics Canada — Table 34-10-0293-01: Investment in building construction
• Statistics Canada — The Daily: Investment in building construction, July 2026 (for the July Ontario multi-unit comparison)

Compiled by the Real Estate HQ editorial desk from primary data releases (sources linked above) and reviewed for accuracy. Figures are as reported on the release date; seasonally adjusted current-dollar values unless otherwise noted.