Ottawa-Gatineau (Ontario part) office construction activity.
$410.3M of work was put in place on office buildings in the 12 months to July 2026, up 8.6% on the year before. 84% of it was renovation.
New construction and renovation, by year
Office construction put in place, calendar years with every month published.
Renovation was 84% of office construction in Ottawa-Gatineau (Ontario part) over the 12 months to July 2026, against 66% nationally. Renovation was the majority of the work in 7 of 9 years; the exceptions were 2020 at 39% and 2021 at 29%. Its share ranged from 29% in 2021 to 93% in 2019. Most office construction here happens inside buildings that already stand, which is why fit-out trades set the pace of this market.
Office building permits
Value and count of permits for office buildings, by calendar year.
| Year | Permit value | Permits | New construction value | Improvements value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | $254.6M | 200 | $5.6M | $248.9M |
| 2019 | $296.7M | 206 | $69.6M | $226.8M |
| 2020 | $1.17B | 156 | $798.9M | $373.5M |
| 2021 | $225.6M | 160 | $29.9M | $195.7M |
| 2022 | $211.1M | 155 | $19.5M | $191.6M |
| 2023 | $202.3M | 102 | $7.9M | $194.3M |
| 2024 | $206.8M | 141 | $54.3M | $152.4M |
| 2025 | $207.0M | 142 | $21.2M | $185.7M |
Permit values are the applicant’s estimate of the work authorised. Totals include a small amount of work converting other buildings into office use.
Buildings converted to homes
Homes created by permits converting non-residential buildings to residential use, by calendar year.
133 homes across 12 permits in the 12 months to July 2026, with a combined permit value of $19.9M. This series counts every non-residential building type converted to residential use, not office buildings alone, so it bounds the removal of non-residential space rather than measuring office removals.
Price, not only volume
Why dollar values across years need care.
These are current dollars. The Ottawa-Gatineau (Ontario part) office construction price index rose 62.4% from the first quarter of 2018 to Q2 2026, so the same scope of work now costs that much more. A year with more dollars of office construction is not necessarily a year with more work.
Monthly detail
The latest 24 months, newest first. Recent months are revised on each release.
24 months
| Month | Put in place | New construction | Renovation | Office permit value | Homes from conversions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2026 | $44.7M | $5.1M | $38.8M | $12.9M | 1 |
| Jun 2026 | $42.6M | $4.8M | $37.2M | $10.1M | 8 |
| May 2026 | $36.8M | $4.5M | $31.6M | $71.3M | 1 |
| Apr 2026 | $34.0M | $3.6M | $29.6M | $45.2M | 0 |
| Mar 2026 | $28.1M | $3.7M | $23.3M | $118.7M | 0 |
| Feb 2026 | $29.3M | $3.8M | $24.1M | $8.7M | 0 |
| Jan 2026 | $30.8M | $4.0M | $25.2M | $10.5M | 0 |
| Dec 2025 | $32.2M | $3.6M | $26.7M | $14.5M | 0 |
| Nov 2025 | $33.2M | $3.8M | $27.6M | $6.0M | 1 |
| Oct 2025 | $33.3M | $4.1M | $27.5M | $15.6M | 1 |
| Sep 2025 | $32.1M | $4.4M | $26.0M | $36.9M | 6 |
| Aug 2025 | $33.3M | $4.6M | $27.0M | $4.8M | 115 |
| Jul 2025 | $33.2M | $4.8M | $27.0M | $19.1M | 0 |
| Jun 2025 | $33.7M | $4.9M | $27.8M | $10.3M | 204 |
| May 2025 | $33.5M | $5.1M | $27.6M | $26.0M | 0 |
| Apr 2025 | $33.3M | $5.4M | $27.1M | $12.6M | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | $32.3M | $5.6M | $25.9M | $23.0M | 122 |
| Feb 2025 | $32.8M | $5.8M | $26.2M | $7.7M | 0 |
| Jan 2025 | $31.6M | $5.9M | $25.1M | $30.5M | 0 |
| Dec 2024 | $32.0M | $5.8M | $25.7M | $5.9M | 0 |
| Nov 2024 | $29.6M | $5.6M | $23.6M | $43.5M | 11 |
| Oct 2024 | $29.2M | $4.8M | $24.0M | $24.9M | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | $28.6M | $4.0M | $24.3M | $19.1M | 1 |
| Aug 2024 | $28.0M | $3.9M | $23.9M | $7.4M | 0 |
Questions
Scope of these figures.
How much office construction is happening in Ottawa-Gatineau (Ontario part)?
Statistics Canada estimates $410.3M of work was put in place on office buildings in the Ottawa-Gatineau (Ontario part) metropolitan area in the 12 months to July 2026, up 8.6% on the 12 months before. 84% of it was renovation of existing buildings. That ranks Ottawa-Gatineau (Ontario part) 6th of 42 metropolitan areas.
How many office building permits were issued in Ottawa-Gatineau (Ontario part)?
147 in the 12 months to July 2026, with a combined value of $355.2M. 15 of them were for new construction.
Are buildings in Ottawa-Gatineau (Ontario part) being converted to homes?
Permits converting non-residential buildings to residential use created 133 homes in Ottawa-Gatineau (Ontario part) in the 12 months to July 2026, across 12 permits. Statistics Canada does not separate office buildings from other non-residential types in this series.
Is the rise in value real or just price?
Partly price. The office construction price index for Ottawa-Gatineau (Ontario part) rose 62.4% from the first quarter of 2018 to Q2 2026, so the same work costs that much more in current dollars. Compare dollar values across years with that in mind.
What is the difference between permits and investment?
A building permit records work being authorised, valued by the applicant when the permit is issued. Investment is Statistics Canada’s estimate of the value of work actually put in place each month, spread over the time a project takes to build. Permits lead; investment follows. A large permit can appear in one month and its investment over the following year or two.
Sources: Statistics Canada, table 34-10-0293-01, Investment in Building Construction, released 2026-09-21; and table 34-10-0292-01, Building permits, by type of structure and type of work, released 2026-09-16. Unadjusted, current dollars. Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Boundary: These are dollar values of construction activity in current dollars, not floor area, vacancy or absorption. A permit value is the applicant’s estimate of the work authorised; investment is Statistics Canada’s estimate of work put in place. Conversions to residential cover every non-residential building type, not office buildings alone. Values are not adjusted for construction price change.