News Aggregates
Alberta, Ontario drive growth in February building permit report

April 4 2023, OTTAWA – Statistics Canada released their building permit report for February, with notable gains across various sectors and provinces.

Total value of building permits across the country advanced 8.6 per cent to $10.7 billion during February. When adjusted for purchasing power since 2012, this total value increased 8.2 per cent to $6.4 billion.

The residential sector has broken a two-month dip, with a 7.9 per cent gain to $6.6 billion. Among this sector, the multi-dwelling component has sharply increased by 13.6 per cent, driven by a number of large value permits in Ontario, which have increased 25.4 per cent. Construction in single-family homes remains stable at 0.5 per cent.

Overall, 22,900 permits were issued for new residential units, marking a 7.9 per cent increase to $6.6 billion.

SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA

Non-residential valuations have increased 9.8 per cent to $4.2 billion, the highest value for this sector since February 2022. A significant factor in this increase is Alberta, where several high-value non-residential projects are underway.

SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA

Including notable overall gains in Ontario (10.7 per cent) and Alberta (25.6 per cent), a total of seven provinces have reported monthly increases. Among the areas experiencing growth are all four eastern provinces, which saw a collective advancement of 25.7 per cent month over month in value of permits.

Several Western provinces experienced a decline in residential permits, including British Columbia (-13.4 per cent), Alberta (-3.9 per cent), and Saskatchewan (-40.6 per cent).

SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA

Across the country’s overall markets, the institutional component has experienced a 7.6 per cent loss, though reports show this decline to be offset by a 42 per cent gain in the industrial sector and a 6.2 per cent increase in commercial components.