Building permits

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Contractors took out $4.4 billion in building permits in January, down 4.6% from December.

Increases in both institutional and commercial permits were not enough to offset the decreases in the value of residential intentions in five provinces.

In the residential sector, the value of permits fell 17.5% to $2.2 billion with declines in both multi-family and single-family permits.

The value of permits in the non-residential sector increased 12.2% to $2.3 billion. This was due mainly to higher construction intentions for institutional and commercial permits in Ontario.

The total value of intentions fell in every province except Ontario, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island.

Chart 1

Residential sector: Intentions down for both single- and multi-family permits

Municipalities issued $696 million worth of permits for multi-family dwellings in January, down 36.2% from December.

Ontario accounted for most of the decline at the national level, although seven provinces reported a decrease. Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and British Columbia were the only provinces showing increases.

The value of single-family permits decreased 4.3% to $1.5 billion. Alberta, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia accounted for January's drop.

Municipalities approved 11,065 new dwellings in January, down 19.4%. This was mainly due to a 33.0% decrease in multi-family units to 5,180. The number of single-family units approved declined 1.9% to 5,885 units.

Chart 2

Non-residential sector: Increases in both institutional and commercial components

Strong growth in the values of both institutional and commercial permits in Ontario was the main factor behind January's increase in the non-residential sector.

Permits in the institutional component increased by 64.2% to $833 million. This increase was largely the result of higher construction intentions for medical buildings in Ontario.

In the commercial component, the value of permits increased 12.4% to $1.2 billion. The increase resulted mostly from higher construction intentions for storage and recreational buildings in Ontario.

The value of industrial permits remained volatile and fell 50.7% to $207 million, following a 30.7% increase in December. January's decline was due mostly to lower construction intentions for manufacturing buildings in Quebec and Ontario.

Permits down in most provinces

The value of building permits fell in seven provinces in January.

The most significant declines occurred in Quebec (-19.8% to $960 million and Alberta (-22.4% to $585 million). In both, the decrease was due to lower construction intentions in the residential and non-residential sectors.

Ontario reported a 13.1% increase to $2.0 billion. This was a result of higher construction intentions in institutional and commercial buildings, which more than offset a decrease in the value of residential permits.

Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island also reported an increase as a result of gains in both residential and non-residential sectors.

Metropolitan areas: Large decreases in Toronto and Montréal

The total value of permits was down in 19 of the 34 census metropolitan areas.

Permit values declined 12.9% in Toronto, as lower construction intentions in the multi-family component more than offset increases in the non-residential sector and single-family permits.

In Montréal, permit values fell 19.7% as a result of decreases in both residential and non-residential sectors.

In contrast, Barrie and Oshawa posted the largest increases, mainly the result of higher construction intentions in the institutional component.

Available on CANSIM: tables 026-0001 to 026-0008 and 026-0010.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2802.

The January 2009 issue of Building Permits (64-001-XWE, free) will soon be available.

The building permit release for February will be on April 6.

To order data, contact Jasmine Gaudreault (toll-free 1-800-579-8533; 613-951-6321; bdp_information@statcan.gc.ca). For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Nicole Charron (613-951-0087), Investment and Capital Stock Division.