Ottawa, ON — The total value of building permits in Canada decreased for the second month in a row, falling 13.9 per cent to $9.9 billion in June. In May, the total fell 12.2 per cent to $11.7 billion, reports Statistics Canada.
Declines were seen in 11 of the 13 provinces and territories, with the residential and non-residential sectors experiencing decreases.
On the residential side, the total value of building permits declined 11.5 per cent to $6.5 billion in June. Nine of the 13 provinces and territories contributed to this decline in residential permits.
Substantial declines were also seen in multi-unit construction intentions, down 19.8 per cent. In this sector, British Columbia (down 31.1 per cent) and Ontario (down 25.7 per cent) saw the biggest declines, leading to the overall drop in multi-family dwelling permit values.
However, construction intentions in single-family homes increased four per cent to $2.6 billion in June. Canadian municipalities authorized 20,400 dwelling units in June, bringing the total over the last 12 months to 263,400 units.
The total value of non-residential building permits decreased 18.1 per cent to $3.5 billion. Both the industrial component (down 42.6 per cent) and the commercial component (down 15.6 per cent) recorded declines. However, the institutional component increased slightly, up one per cent.
Despite the declines seen in June, the total value of building permits in the second quarter was $34.6 billion, up 2.1 per cent from the first quarter ($33.9 billion).