Ottawa, ON — The fourth quarter of 2021 saw a jump in the total value of building permits, up 10.3 per cent, to a new record high of $33.1 billion.
Yet the month of December still reported a decrease in the total value of building permits, a decrease of 1.9 per cent to $11.2 billion to be exact. Declines were reported in both the residential and non-residential sectors, reports Statistics Canada.
Following a strong November that saw an increase of 13.3 per cent, the total value of residential permits decreased 2.7 per cent to $7.7 billion in December.
Reversing the growth in November, Multi-family permit values also declined 6.0 per cent to $4.1 billion with British Columbia reporting the highest decline down 20.3 per cent.
However, for the third consecutive month, construction intentions for single-family homes increased, up 1.3 per cent to $3.6 billion. Quebec recorded the highest growth up 14.6 per cent.
With a significant decline from Alberta, down 55.6 per cent, the total value of commercial permits fell 7.9 per cent to $1.9 billion in December.
On the contrary, construction intentions in the industrial sector rose 8.4 per cent to $762 million and the value of institutional building permits increased 17.2 per cent to $720 million.
Overall, the total value of non-residential permits remained unchanged at $3.4 billion.