Vancouver saw Canada's biggest increase in the composite price index for non-residential construction in 2013's second quarter, according to Statistics Canada data released August 13.
The cost of non-residential building in the city increased 2.4% compared with 2013's first quarter. The second-highest gain was recorded in Halifax, Nova Scotia (0.6%).
The national gain of 0.5% was driven largely by the increase in the price of building materials in British Columbia, which StatsCan said is related to the return of the PST in April.
Vancouver also recorded the greatest year-over-year gain of 2.9%, compared with a national increase of 0.9%.
Other regions with increases compared with the same period last year were:
- Halifax (1.5%);
- Edmonton (1.0%);
- Montreal (0.9%); and
- Calgary (0.8%).
