Canadian Building Permits Up in June

The value of building permits in Canada totaled $6.6 billion in June, up 6.5 percent from May and a 24.9 percent increase from June 2009. The gain in June was due to the non-residential sector, which more than offset the decline in the residential sector.

In the non-residential sector, the value of permits increased 23.5 percent from May to $3.0 billion in June. This increase was largely attributable to higher commercial and institutional construction intentions in Ontario and higher commercial construction intentions in Alberta.

In the residential sector, the value of permits fell 4.5 percent from May to $3.6 billion in June, as a result of a drop in single-family housing permits. This was the third consecutive monthly decrease.

The total value of permits was up in six provinces, led by Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador and British Columbia. Saskatchewan posted the largest decrease. The total value of permits rose in 15 of the 34 census metropolitan areas.

Non-residential sector
In the commercial component, municipalities issued $1.5 billion worth of permits in June, up 39.0 percent from May. The increase was primarily due to higher construction intentions for hotels, restaurants and conference centers in Ontario and for recreational facilities in Alberta.

The institutional component increased 41.7 percent from May to $966 million in June. The increase was largely due to higher construction intentions for educational institutions in Ontario.

After five consecutive monthly increases, the value of industrial building permits fell 18.0 percent from May to $566 million in June. Ontario had the largest decrease, while Newfoundland and Labrador posted the biggest gain.

Residential sector
The value of building permits for single-family units declined for the third consecutive month, falling 8.3 percent from May to $2.2 billion in June. The decline in June was a result of decreases in every province except Newfoundland and Labrador.

Municipalities issued $1.4 billion worth of building permits for multi-family dwellings in June, 2.0 percent more than in May and a second consecutive monthly increase. British Columbia was by far the province with the largest gain in the value of multi-family permits, offsetting declines in six provinces.

Municipalities approved the construction of 17,729 new dwellings in June, up 2.0 percent from May. This was due to a 12.1 percent increase in the number of multi-family dwellings to 10,216, despite a 9.2 percent drop in the number of single-family dwellings to 7,513.

Source: Statistics Canada