Building permit values climb back above $10B
A strong month for construction in Ontario helped create another winning month for building permit values in Canada in June.
Statistics Canada’s latest look at the value of permits issued by municipalities across the country shows a jump of 6.9 percent for the month. That brought the total value of permits back over the $10-billion mark after the market slumped in May. Seven provinces contributed to the gain, with permit values in Ontario jumping 22.7 percent.
Activity in the residential sector rose 9.1 percent to $7.2 billion after two consecutive months of losses. June’s rise was thanks in large part to strong demand for multi-unit buildings in Toronto and Hamilton. Those projects helped push the value of multi-family up 13.5 percent to $3.7 billion. Ontario recorded $1.8 billion worth of multi-family construction work in June—an increase of more than 67 percent. Activity in the same sector in Quebec, meanwhile, shed nearly 30 percent from a record high in May.
Construction intentions for single-family dwellings increased 4.7 percent to $3.4 billion. Seven provinces saw gains, led by Ontario and Alberta.
Non-residential permits up slightly
Construction intentions for the non-residential sector were up 2.2 percent to $3.1 billion in June. Eight provinces—Alberta chief among them at 32.7 percent—reported gains.
The value of commercial permits rose 7.4 percent to $1.7 billion. High-value permits, such as the Agri-food Hub and Trade Centre in Lethbridge and an office building in Vaughan, helped Alberta (+54.8 percent) and Ontario (+16.2 percent) to lead this component.
The value of industrial permits, meanwhile, increased 2.3 percent to $526 million. Six provinces showed increases, led by Ontario (+37.8 percent).
The institutional component was the only one to report losses in June. Permit values fell 6.7 percent to $871 million, as Ontario's notable decrease (-37.7 percent) drew down the national level.
Residential permits pull down second-quarter intentions
Total building permits declined 1.7 percent to $31 billion in the second quarter of 2021 compared with the previous period. Despite this, the value of building permits remained the second highest on record and was 38.5 percent above the same quarter in 2020, which was heavily impacted by COVID-19 restrictions.
The value of permits for the residential sector fell 4.2 percent to $21.4 billion in the second quarter. Permits for both multi-family and single-family dwellings dropped, with seven provinces reporting decreases.
Construction intentions in the non-residential sector rose 4.5 percent to $9.6 billion. Although second-quarter values exceeded the values in the first quarter of 2020, non-residential permits remained below the quarterly levels of 2019. Among the non-residential components, institutional permits increased for a fourth consecutive quarter, boosted by large projects in the education and health care sectors.