Building permit values rise 4% in September
Building permit values poked their heads above the $10-billion mark in September, led by yet another strong performance in the residential sector.
Statistics Canada’s latest look at building permit activity shows a gain of 4.3 percent for the month. Intentions in the residential sector rose 8.2%, while permit values in the non-residential sector dropped 3.2%.
Ontario led the way with 6.3 percent growth in permit values, with its residential sector in particular performing strongly. High-value permits for two new condo buildings valued at over $300 million in Mississauga and Toronto helped push Ontario's multi-family permits up 40.4% to $1.7 billion in September.
At the national level, multi-family permits rose sharply, up 18.6% to $3.9 billion. Conversely, construction intentions for single-family homes declined 2.7% to $3.0 billion, mainly reflecting decreases in Ontario and Quebec.
While permit values in the residential sector rose to $6.9 billion in September, construction intentions for the non-residential sector dropped 3.2% to $3.3 billion. This was despite a gain of 55.0% in Alberta.
The value of institutional building permits dropped 30.6%, mostly due to a 35.3% decline in Quebec. That decrease followed a strong August when a permit worth $116 million was issued for a hospital expansion in Verdun.
Commercial building permits fell 12.4% to $1.6 billion in September, mostly due to declines in Ontario.
Industrial building permits jumped 72.1% to $987 million, a record high for the series. Alberta's growth of 382.9% led the way, reflecting a permit valued at $400 million for the expansion of Calgary International Airport's Airside Maintenance Centre.
Third quarter construction intentions continue to ease
The total value of building permits saw a second quarterly decline, down 3.8% to $29.8 billion in the third quarter compared with the previous quarter. However, building permits were 14.3% higher compared with the third quarter of 2020.
The value of residential building permits fell 5.4% to $20.2 billion in the third quarter of 2021, with declines in both single-family and multi-family dwellings. In contrast, on a year-over-year basis, the residential sector was up 16.5%.
Construction intentions for the non-residential sector edged down 0.2% to $9.6 billion compared with the second quarter. Industrial building permits rose 33.8%, helped by large projects such as the Calgary International Airport's Airside Maintenance Centre expansion and a wind turbine blade manufacturing plant in Quebec. However, declines in the commercial (-3.2%) and institutional (-14.4%) components pulled the sector down overall for the quarter.