A $6-million permit for construction of a new bus garage highlighted what was otherwise a quiet month for construction activity in Brantford in August.

In all, the city issued just under $12.4 million worth of permits for the month—nearly half of which was accounted for by the $6-million permit issued to Brantford Power. That figure is down 33 percent from the total value of construction performed in the city in August 2019.

The city issued 101 permits during the month, compared with 129 a year ago.

Despite the slower pace of construction activity in August, 2020’s year-to-date totals remain comfortably ahead of the pace set through the first eight months of last year. To date, the city has issued 779 permits worth more than $171 million. That’s compared to 828 permits, and about $133 million issued over the same period last year.

“The strong construction values we continue to attain indicate the success of the construction industry in Brantford,” Andy McMahon, acting chief building official and director of building services for the city, told the Brantford Expositor. “Despite various challenges due to COVID-19, we are still on track to have one of our best years ever.”

The $6-million permit issued to Brampton Power was by far the largest-valued building permit issued by the city in August. The next largest permit was for a single-detached home on Westlake Boulevard at $1.1 million. The next-largest non-residential permit was for $350,000 for a manufacturing facility on Elgin Street.

Compared with August 2019, permit values were down significantly in the institutional and government sector ($4 million compared with $257,000) and down in the commercial sector ($911,000 compared with $352,000). The city did not issue any permits for multi-unit residential properties (down from $5.1 million a year ago). The only other sector to record an increase was among duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes, which jumped from zero in August 2019 to $1.9 million this year.

For the year to date, the city has seen the greatest growth in permit values in the industrial (up $27 million to $37.9 million) and multi-unit residential (up $27 million to $40.7 million) sectors.

Meanwhile, the value of permits for institutional and government buildings is down $22 million compared with last year, and the value of commercial-sector permits is down more than $6 million.