June 30, 2026
SUMMARY
Ontario’s investment in industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) building construction reached $2.85 billion in April 2026. Overall investment was slightly lower than both March 2026 and April 2025. Commercial construction continued to account for the largest share of spending, while industrial and institutional investment increased from the previous month. Office buildings, schools, and warehouses remained the top building types by investment.
ONTARIO ICI CONSTRUCTION INVESTMENT
Total investment in industrial, commercial, and institutional construction reached $2.85 billion in April 2026. This was 1.1% lower than April 2025 and 0.6% lower than March 2026.
The commercial sector accounted for the largest share of investment at $1.39 billion (48.7%). Institutional construction totalled $780 million (27.5%), while industrial construction reached $680 million (23.8%).
Compared with March 2026, industrial investment increased by 8.5% and institutional investment rose by 2.7%. Commercial investment declined by 6.2%.
Year over year, institutional construction was the only sector to record a decline, falling 5.4%. Industrial and commercial investment both posted modest gains of 0.6%.
PERFORMANCE BY TYPE OF BUILDINGS
Office buildings remained the largest building category in April 2026, followed by schools and warehouses.
Investment in office buildings totalled $440.3 million, representing 15.4% of total ICI investment and 31.7% of commercial construction spending. Office investment declined 15.8% from March and 3.3% from April 2025. This was the first month since November 2024 that office investment fell below $450 million.
As for other commercial buildings, warehouse investment reached $318.9 million. Spending was 0.8% lower than March, but 20% higher than a year earlier.
Laboratory construction remained a small category, but continued to grow quickly. Investment increased 227.3% year over year to $12.3 million.
Within the industrial sector, factory construction attracted the highest level of investment at $295.8 million. This was 21.5% higher than March, but 4.4% lower than April 2025. Transportation projects totalled $212.8 million, slightly below the previous month, but recorded the strongest annual growth among industrial building types with a 21.2% increase.
In the institutional sector, schools received the highest investment at $324.6 million, up 3.4% from March. Schools were the second-largest building category overall, although investment remained 12.2% lower than a year ago. London, Ottawa, Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, and Oshawa continued to see strong school construction activity.
Investment in welfare homes reached $213.5 million, an increase of 2.4% from March. Hospital investment remained stable at $141.7 million.
INVESTMENT TRENDS BY CENSUS METROPOLITAN AREA (CMA)
Belleville recorded the strongest year over year growth in April 2026. Investment increased 67.7%, driven by institutional and commercial projects, particularly schools, recreation facilities, and office buildings.
Barrie and Thunder Bay also posted strong gains, with investment increasing 53.5% and 29.1%, respectively. Brantford recorded 20.3% growth, while Oshawa increased 13.8%.
Belleville saw growth in both commercial and industrial construction. Thunder Bay’s increase was mainly supported by industrial projects. Brantford recorded growth across all three sectors, while Toronto’s gains were largely driven by industrial construction.
Peterborough and Kingston recorded the weakest performance. Investment fell 55.1% in Peterborough and 34.5% in Kingston.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Gargi Bharti
Economic and Research Project Lead
Ontario Construction Secretariat (OCS)
180 Attwell Drive, Suite 360, Toronto, ON M9W 6A9
P 416.620.5210
gbharti@iciconstruction.com
