According to the latest economic update by the Ontario Construction Secretariat (OCS), building construction investment was up 9 per cent year-to-date in August, with the largest percentage change in the institutional sector.
The report noted that the major component of this increase was the education sector, which was up 37 per cent. At the city level, Kingston, KW-Cambridge and London had some of the largest percentage increases.
In terms of total ICI building investment, it increased 9 per cent year-to-date compared to 2024. The institutional sector in particular stood out with a 19 per cent increase from $10.4 billion to $11.2 billion.
The majority of this increase was concentrated in schools and education, which increased from roughly $2 billion to almost $2.8 billion. Commercial investment came in at 8 per cent, while industrial investment increased by 1 per cent.
When it comes to the transportation sector, it showed the largest year-to-date percentage increase at 57 per cent. This was primarily due to continuing activity for various transit projects in Toronto.
Schools and education investment was up 37 per cent. This increase was broad based, with gains in several census metropolitan areas.
Hotels and restaurants investment was also up 37 per cent, with the bulk of the increase coming from activity in Hamilton, London, and KW-Cambridge.
When looking at the actual value, office buildings came in with the largest value at $3.6 billion year-to-date. This was mainly due to activity from Toronto.
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.
Building investment was elevated throughout 2025, which the report says was due to various elementary school construction projects in both regions, as well as college and university upgrades in KW.
London also saw an increase in schools and education. However, the greatest increase was in the plants and factories segment, which was up from $133.4 million to $475.2 million. This is likely, in part, due to continuing work on the St. Thomas Battery Plant, according to the report.
