Ottawa, ON — The total monthly value of building permits in Canada decreased 6.5 per cent in September to $11.2 billion, reports Statistics Canada.
Despite the monthly decrease, the total value of building permits in the third quarter of 2023 rose 4.9 per cent from the second quarter to $34.6 billion.
In the residential sector, the total monthly value of residential permits increased 4.2 per cent to $7.2 billion. This was due largely to a 37.2 per cent increase in construction intentions in British Columbia.
Declines seen in five provinces were offset by monthly gains in the value of residential permits in Newfoundland and Labrador (up by 20.8 per cent), Prince Edward Island (up by 16.2 per cent), Nova Scotia (up by 10.3 per cent), and Quebec (up by 9.1 per cent).
In the third quarter of 2023, the residential sector increased 3.4 per cent to $21.2 billion. Additionally, 64,400 new units were authorized through building permits in the third quarter of 2023.
On the non-residential side, the total monthly value of non-residential permits fell 21 per cent from August to $4 billion in September. This drop was attributed to the decline in construction intentions for the institutional component (down 50.7 per cent to $1.0 billion).
Despite the sharp month-over-month decline, the total value of non-residential building permits in September 2023 ($4 billion) was 18.7 per cent higher than in September 2022 ($3.4 billion).
Meanwhile, the non-residential sector was up 7.3 per cent to $13.5 billion in the third quarter of 2023.