Ottawa, ON — The total value of building permits issued across Canada in July fell by 0.1 per cent to $11.9 billion, reports Statistics Canada. The overall decrease was largely led by the non-residential sector.
Specifically, the non-residential sector recorded a decrease of $279.2 million to $4.6 billion in July. Both the industrial (down $252.9 million) and institutional (down $196.0 million) components declined, while the commercial component (up $169.7 million) helped level the decrease.
The overall loss seen in the industrial component was attributed to Ontario (down $190.9 million) and Quebec (down $114.8 million), while Alberta (down $192.1 million) led the decline in the institutional component. In the commercial component, Ontario led the gains (up $82.5 million), followed by Quebec (up $59.3 million) and Nunavut (up $30.8 million).
Despite the decrease in the non-residential sector, there was a rise in the total value of building permits in the residential sector, up $268.3 million to $7.3 billion in July. The increase was thanks to Ontario (up $497.5 million).
The single component increased $143.5 million to $2.6 billion in July, led by Ontario (up $114.6 million) and followed by Alberta (up $35.2 million). Across Canada, seven provinces and three territories contributed to the increase, while Quebec (down $17.2 million), Manitoba (down $12.5 million) and British Columbia (down $6.2 million) held back the growth.
Additionally, the multi-unit component grew $124.8 million to $4.7 billion and was driven by Ontario (up $382.8 million), specifically the Toronto census metropolitan area (up $329.5 million), followed by Alberta (up $84.7 million).