The total value of building permits issued increased four per cent to $9.2 billion in January. Increases were reported in six provinces, led by British Columbia with a 52.1 per cent to $2.2 billion.
The majority of January’s national increase in the value of building permits was in British Columbia and largely in the metropolitan area (CMA) of Vancouver. The value of permits increased in Vancouver by 81.8 per cent – likely due to an increase in development fees, which came into effect Jan. 15.
Quebec (decrease of $366 million) and Ontario (decrease of $161 million) reported the largest provincial declines after strong activity in December.
The residential sector reported strong gains in January, increasing 12.7 per cent from December to $5.8 billion.
Permits for multi-family dwellings increased seven per cent to $2.4 billion, mainly due to housing developments in Ontario and Quebec. The CMA of Brantford, Ontario, reported the largest increase in value of permits for single-family dwellings.
The value of non-residential permits declined 7.8 per cent to $3.5 billion in January. This decrease was largely due to a reduction in the total value of institutional permits.
Despite increases in seven provinces, the value of commercial permits decreased 0.8 per cent to $2.1 billion, with Quebec reporting with the largest decline. The value of industrial permits offset some of the non-residential decline, rising 6.8 per cent to $682 million, led by Ontario with an increase of $90 million.
The building permits survey covers over 2,400 municipalities, representing 95 per cent of the Canadian population.