Building permit values pass $10B in February
The total value of building permits issued by municipalities pushed past the $10-billion mark for the first time in history in February.
Where previous strong performances had been characterized by growth in the residential sector and relatively flat performances in the non-residential sector, this time it was the non-residential sector propping up a lack-luster housing market.
Municipalities issued $3.3 billion worth of non-residential permits for the month—an increase of more than 14 percent over January’s total. Despite the large jump, the sector remained about 13 percent below the peak it reached in April 2019.
Institutional permits saw their largest value increase since June 2020. Investment climbed $226 million to $1.0 billion. With several permits being issued for long-term care facilities and a hospice, Ontario (44.4 percent) and Alberta (107.6 percent) led the way.
The commercial component increased 11.4 percent to $1.7 billion, the highest value since September 2020. Most of the gain was the result of high-value permits being issued for additions and renovations to commercial buildings in Ontario and Alberta. Building intentions in the commercial component have not been this high in Alberta since December 2019.
Municipalities issued permits worth $544 million for industrial buildings in February, up 1.9 percent from the previous month. Seven provinces rises in this component, led by Ontario.
The news was less positive on the residential side of the ledger, where construction intentions dropped by nearly 3 percent to $6.8 billion. This was after a record-setting month in January.
In British Columbia, several high-value permits were issued for multi-family dwellings (59.2 percent), including two for the University District condo development in the city of Surrey. However, declines in six provinces, including Ontario (-23.9 percent) and Alberta (-39.2 percent), pulled this component lower at the national level, with the total dropping 4.9 percent to $3.3 billion.
Building permits for single-family homes dipped 1.0 percent to $3.5 billion, although they remained at historically high levels, with Ontario ($1.5 billion) and Prince Edward Island ($29.1 million) reporting record highs. This marked the third consecutive month of record-setting numbers for Ontario.
From January 2018 to the end of 2020, the value for multi-family dwellings had exceeded that of single-family homes. However, shortly after the start of the pandemic, the gap between these two components steadily closed. By January 2021, the value of permits for single-family homes had once again surpassed that of multi-family dwellings and continued to do so in February.