Alberta and British Columbia drove investment in non-residential building construction to a sixth straight annual record in 2006, Statistics Canada said today.

Separately, the government agency reported that strong demand for North American-built passenger cars drove new motor vehicle sales 3% higher in November, following two consecutive monthly declines.

StatsCan said investment in commercial, industrial and institutional projects totalled more than $35 billion, up 10.8% from 2005, a 3.1% once adjusted for inflation.

The government agency said spending rose last year in all three components: In the commercial sector, it was up 12.3% from 2005 to $20.2 billion; in the industrial sector, it climbed 9.5% to $5.7 billion; in the institutional sector, it jumped 8.4% to $9.2 billion.

Alberta and British Columbia accounted for more than 80% of the total increase in non-residential investment during the year, largely on the strength of commercial projects.

Annual increases were posted in eight provinces, with Alberta and British Columbia registering the largest dollar gains in the total value of non-residential building investment – Alberta was up 37.8% to $6.7 billion and British Columbia rose 25.9% to $4.9 billion, both record highs.

Fourth-quarter investment hit $9 billion, up 1.8% from the third quarter and the 15th straight quarterly increase.


Meanwhile, strong demand for North American-built passenger cars drove new motor vehicle sales 3% higher in November after two straight monthly declines.

Ontario accounted for almost 85% of the increase as consumers purchased 140,012 new vehicles, about 4,000 more than in October.

Despite fluctuations in the second half, 2006 sales of new motor vehicles continued their relatively stable upward trend after relatively large fluctuations throughout 2005 caused by the introduction and subsequent removal of dealer incentive programs.

Passenger cars accounted for almost 84% of the increase in total vehicles sold in November, advancing five% to 71,536 units after a seven% drop in October.

North American-built passenger cars drove the national sales gain, climbing 8.9% in November to partially recoup an 11.8% plunge in October, while overseas-built car sales slipped 1.8%.