Investment in building construction plunged 45.9 per cent to $8.4 billion in April compared with the previous month, reported Statistics Canada on Monday.

Previously, the largest national decline on record for the current series (which dates back to 2010) was a 3.9 per cent decrease in August 2017, said the federal agency.

“Both the residential (-49.2 per cent) and non-residential (-38.8 per cent) sectors reported record declines. Investment decreased in all provinces and territories, with Ontario (-$3.2 billion) and Quebec (-$2.5 billion) reporting the largest declines,” it said.

“Public health measures put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 severely impacted the construction industry in April as the largest provinces in the country shut down all non-essential construction sites.”

Declines in the residential sector varied by province, however, at a national level, the declines were felt more sharply in single family homes (-54.7 per cent) than in multi-family dwellings (-43.5 per cent), said StatsCan.

Investment in the non-residential sector plummeted 38.8 per cent to $3 billion in April compared with the previous month. During this time, non-residential construction was largely shut down in Ontario and Quebec, while other provinces and territories allowed work to continue with strict public health measures in place, it explained.

The commercial component posted the largest decline (-49.4 per cent ) while the institutional component tumbled 22.2 per cent.