The Weekly Review, February 9 to 13, 2026

In December, the total value of building permits issued in Canada increased $821.3 million (+6.8%) to $12.8 billion. The increase was led by the residential sector (+$533.5 million) and supported by the non-residential sector (+$287.8 million). Despite the increase in December, the residential sector decreased $1.0 billion to $86.6 billion in 2025. This decline was driven by single-family construction intentions, falling 7.0% to $29.6 billion, the lowest annual level in the series.

Source: Building permits, December 2025

The operating revenue of the engineering services industry continued to grow in 2024, increasing by 6.5% to $46.8 billion. This represents a more moderate pace of growth compared with the 9.8% gain recorded in 2023 and the 12.4% increase seen in 2022. Furthermore, customers outside Canada made up 10.7% of total sales in 2024. Of these international sales, 49.0% were to the United States, with the remainder distributed between Mexico (7.3%) and other countries (43.7%).

Source: Engineering services industry, 2024

There were 4,275 incidents of sex trade-related crime reported by police from 2020 to 2024, down by 22% from the 2015-to-2019 period (5,466 incidents) and down by 58% from the 2010-to-2014 period (10,173)—the period that preceded the legislative changes. In December 2014, the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act was implemented, shifting the focus of criminalization away from those who sell their own sexual services toward those who purchase sexual services or benefit financially from others' sexual services.

Source: Crimes related to the sex trade in Canada

Retail spending in Canada increased 3.0% to $865.2 billion in 2024, of which $73.7 billion was e-commerce revenue. E-commerce sales grew 9.0%, as the trend toward digital shopping continued to increase. Among the provinces, the retail landscape in 2024 was little changed from 2023. Ontario (37.7%), Quebec (22.3%), British Columbia (13.9%) and Alberta (12.7%) accounted for the largest shares of total operating revenue.

Source: Annual retail trade, 2024

“Green” activities include any economic activity that helps reduce the environmental impact, repair environmental damage or preserve ecosystems. From 2016 to 2022, high green-intensity industries were on average 51.7% more productive compared with low green-intensity industries. In 2024, the environmental and clean technology products sector accounted for an estimated 363,094 jobs, representing 1.7% of all jobs in Canada, marking a fourth consecutive year of job growth in this sector. Also, compensation in this sector outpaced that of the broader economy, rising for the third year in a row.

Source: The green potential of the Canadian economy