OTTAWA — Canadian municipalities issued $8.3 billion worth of building permits in November, up 2.6 per cent from October, according to a report released by Statistics Canada Jan. 10. Higher construction intentions for commercial buildings drove most of the gain, said the release.
The value of non-residential building permits rose 11.6 per cent to $3.3 billion. Construction intentions rose in five provinces, with British Columbia accounting for most of the gain.
In the commercial component, the value of building permits was up 16.8 per cent to $2.1 billion, the highest level since May 2007. The increase was led by higher construction intentions for office buildings in the census metropolitan areas (CMAs) of Vancouver and Quebec City.
Following three consecutive monthly declines, the value of industrial building permits rose 21.9 per cent to $527 million in November. The increase was mainly attributable to permits for new agricultural buildings, noted the release.
In the institutional component, the value of permits was down 7.2 per cent to $682 million in November, with Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador reporting the largest decreases. The decline in the institutional component was largely attributable to fewer high-value permits issued for nursing homes compared with the previous month, said the report.
In the residential sector, the value of building permits decreased 2.5 per cent to $5 billion. There were declines in five provinces, most notably Ontario. Meanwhile, the largest gain was in Quebec.
The value of single-family permits fell 5.5 per cent to $2.2 billion, after increasing 4.7 per cent the previous month. Ontario reported the largest decline (minus 8.1 per cent to $930 million), the lowest reported value since January 2016.
In the multi-family dwelling component, municipalities issued $2.9 billion worth of building permits in November, edging down 0.1 per cent from October. Ontario reported the largest decrease (negative $232 million), which was largely offset by a $204 million gain in Quebec.
In November, municipalities approved construction of 19,378 new dwellings (down 3.1 per cent), including 4,725 single-family units (down 7 per cent) and 14,653 multi-family (down 1.8 per cent).
The value of building permits increased in six provinces in November, led by British Columbia and Quebec. Meanwhile, the value of permits rose in 14 of the 36 CMAs, led by Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary.
In British Columbia, the value of permits rose 14.3 per cent to $1.7 billion. The commercial component posted the highest value on record, driven by a $240-million permit for an office building in the CMA of Vancouver.
In contrast, the value of building permits in Ontario was down 10.3 per cent to $3 billion, following an increase of 9 per cent in October. The value of permits in the CMA of Toronto dropped 17.4 per cent to $1.5 billion. The decrease in multi-family dwellings (negative $225 million) was the main contributor to the decline, said Statistics Canada. Despite the decrease in November, the year-to-date value in the Toronto CMA for multi-family permits ($6.8 billion) has surpassed the total value for 2017 by 20.2 per cent.
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