Building permit totals rose slightly in August, topping $8 billion for the month.

Statistics Canada reports that the total value of permits rose 1.7 percent to $8.1 billion. The increase was driven by strong performances in the Ontario and Quebec residential sectors.

Leading the way for the month was the residential sector, in which permit values rose by 7.1 percent to $5.6 billion. The value of permits issued for single family homes rose 9.9 percent to $2.5 billion on the strength of increases in eight provinces. Ontario accounted for more than half of the national gain, mostly due to sharp increases in permits issued in Toronto (+12.7 percent), Oshawa (+94.2 percent) and Brantford (+257.4 percent).

The value of permits for multi-family homes also rose—by 5 percent nationally. Again, the increase was largely due to increases in permit values in Ontario and Quebec. Seven provinces showed declines in the value of permits issued for multi-family dwellings in August. Demand in British Columbia in particular fell by (28.7 percent) to $440 million. Excluding March 2020, this was the lowest value reported for multi-family dwellings in British Columbia since March 2017.

Activity in the non-residential sector fared less well for the month. Statistics Canada reports that the value of non-residential permits dropped 8.6 percent to $2.5 billion in August. The decline was due to a significant drop in non-residential permits in Ontario (-15.7 percent). Meanwhile, Quebec (+9.9 percent), Prince Edward Island (+82.2 percent) and Nova Scotia (+16.7 percent) posted increases.

The value of commercial permits fell by 14.7 percent to $1.4 billion in August, following a notable gain in July that was largely the product of a single, half-billion-dollar permit for an industrial project in Ottawa.

Institutional permits declined for a second month, falling 5.8 percent to $603 million. Ontario (-27.9 percent) recorded the largest drop in the value of permits issued of all the provinces, more than offsetting gains in Quebec (+30.3 percent).

Finally, following two months of decline, the total value of industrial permits increased in August, up 7.5 percent to $528 million. Permits issued in Ontario (+41.4 percent) and British Columbia (+61.5 percent) accounted for most of the gains.

Overall, activity in Ontario rose by 3.2 percent for the month—to just over $3.6 billion. Activity in the province’s residential sector rose by $300 million to $2.6 billion, on the strength of increases in both single-family and multi-unit dwellings. Ontario’s non-residential activity, however, dropped from $1.1 billion to $989 million for the month. Demand was lower in the commercial and institutional sectors (down $200 million and $55 million, respectively), but gained in the industrial sector (up $76 million).