Building permits

Contractors took out $6.2 billion in building permits in December, up 2.4% from November and 32.6% higher than in December 2008.

The increase in the value of permits in December was entirely due to the non-residential sector. Conversely, the upward trend in the total value of construction intentions in 2009 was largely due to the residential sector.

In the non-residential sector, municipalities issued permits worth $2.3 billion, 6.8% more than in November and 13.3% more than in December 2008. The December 2009 increase stems primarily from an increase in the commercial components in Alberta and Ontario.

In the residential sector, the value of permits remained steady at $3.9 billion. Declines in Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba were offset by a gain in British Columbia. In recent months, the value of permits has started to approach the peak reached before the economic slowdown.

In December, the total value of construction intentions rose in seven provinces, led by Alberta and British Columbia.

Non-residential sector: The commercial component is up

The value of commercial building permits increased for the third straight month, advancing 29.2% to $1.5 billion in December. The consecutive gains raised the level of construction intentions for commercial buildings to their highest point in 2009. The December increase was largely due to construction intentions for office buildings in Ontario and Alberta.

In the institutional component, municipalities issued permits worth $514 million in December, down 21.9%. It was the second consecutive decline. Alberta and Ontario posted decreases as a result of a decline in the value of building permits for educational institutions.

After reaching their peak for the year in October 2009, construction intentions in the industrial component were down in December for the second straight month. Intentions declined 19.0% to $240 million, after falling 57.7% in November. Ontario led the seven provinces that posted lower construction intentions.

Residential sector: Lower intentions for single-family permits

After nine consecutive monthly increases, the value of building permits for single-family dwellings declined 1.3% to $2.5 billion. The declines in Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan more than offset the gains recorded in the other seven provinces. British Columbia and Nova Scotia posted the largest advances in single-family construction intentions.

Municipalities issued $1.3 billion worth of permits for multi-family dwellings in December, up 2.1% from November. The increase resulted from higher construction intentions in four provinces, including British Columbia and Alberta.

At the national level, municipalities approved the construction of 18,321 new dwellings in December, up 2.4%. The gain was attributable to multi-family dwellings, which rose 5.5% to 9,406 units. The number of single-family dwellings approved declined 0.6% to 8,915 units.

Alberta and British Columbia post the largest gains

The value of building permits was up in seven provinces.

The most significant increases were in Alberta and British Columbia. In Alberta, the advance in the value of permits was attributable to the commercial component and to multi-family dwellings. British Columbia's gain was due to the residential sector.

Manitoba posted the largest drop in December, as a result of declines in both the non-residential and residential sectors. Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador posted declines resulting from their non-residential sectors.

Value of permits down in more than half of all metropolitan areas

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

The largest declines were in Edmonton and Ottawa. In Edmonton, the increase in multi-family dwellings did not offset declines in all other components. Similarly, Ottawa recorded a decline in every component except permits for commercial buildings.

In contrast, the largest gains were in Calgary, Toronto, Greater Sudbury and Vancouver. In Calgary and Toronto, the increase was due to non-residential building permits and multi-family dwellings. In Greater Sudbury, it was driven by fee increases taking effect in 2010, which raised the number and the value of permits for both the residential and non-residential sectors. In Vancouver, the increase came from the residential sector.

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

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2802.

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

Building permit data for January will be released on March 4.

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.