October 30, 2025
SUMMARY
Building construction investment was up 9% year-to-date (YTD) in August, with the largest percentage change in the institutional sector (19%). A major component of this increase was the education sector, which was up 37%. At the city level, Kingston, KW-Cambridge and London had some of the largest percentage increases.
INVESTMENT STILL STRONG IN AUGUST
Total ICI building investment increased 9% YTD compared to 2024. The institutional sector in particular stood out with a 19% increase from $10.4B to $11.2B. The vast majority of this increase was concentrated in schools and education, which jumped from around $2B to almost $2.8B. Commercial investment came in at a solid 8%, while industrial investment nudged up 1%.
INVESTMENT BY STRUCTURE TYPE
The transportation sector showed the largest YTD percentage increase at 57% ($762.5M to $1.2B). Unsurprisingly, this was primarily due to continuing activity for various transit projects in Toronto ($503M to $843.8M). As previously mentioned, schools and education investment was up a sizable 37% ($2B to $2.8B). This increase was broad based, with sizable gains in several census metropolitan areas (see chart below). Hotels and restaurants investment was also up 37% ($816M to $1.1B), with the bulk of the increase coming from activity in Hamilton ($54.3M to $109.9M), London ($63.7M to $129.8M), and KW-Cambridge ($31M to $122.6M).
Looking at the actual value (rather than the percentage change), office buildings came in with the largest value at $3.6B YTD. As expected, this was mainly due to activity from Toronto ($2.7B, up from the $2.1B at this time last year).
INVESTMENT BY CENSUS METROPOLITAN AREA (CMA)
Kingston, KW-Cambridge, and London had the most significant building investment increases. Kingston and KW’s largest percentage increase were found in schools and education (see chart above). Building investment was elevated throughout 2025, owing to various elementary school construction projects in both regions, as well as college and university upgrades in KW. As noted in the chart, London also saw a sizable increase in schools and education. However, the greatest increase was in the plants and factories segment, which was up over threefold from $133.4M to $475.2M. This is likely, in part, due to continuing work on the St. Thomas Battery Plant.
____________________________
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Ali Ahmad
Research Analyst
Ontario Construction Secretariat (OCS)
180 Attwell Drive, Suite 360, Toronto, ON M9W 6A9
P 416.620.5210 ext. 222
aahmad@iciconstruction.com
