Building permit totals up 2% in October
Statistics Canada reports that the total value of building permits issued across the country in October increased 2.3% to $11.2 billion in October.
Activity in the non-residential sector led the way.
The total value of non-residential sector permits increased by 5.3% to $4.1 billion in October, with gains concentrated in Ontario (+16.0% to $2.0 billion). The gain was in part due to a significant increase in construction intentions in the institutional component, where valued rose by 29% to $1.4 billion. October’s largest building permit issued was for the construction of a new hospital wing in Toronto.
Construction intentions in the industrial component (+11.9% to $973.8 million) also saw gains in October, while the commercial component (-10.5% to $1.8 billion) posted its second consecutive monthly decline.
Permit values in the commercial component have been trending down since the record high of $2.9 billion in March. Year over year, the value of commercial permits issued in October ($1.8 billion) was 11.9% less than the value of those issued in October 2022 ($2.0 billion).
October also saw the total value of residential building permits increase by 0.6% to $7.1 billion. This follows a gain of 2.8% in September.
Gains in residential permit values for Ontario (+7.4% or +$199.9 million), Alberta (+14.8% or +$125.5 million) and Quebec (+7.0% or +$89.0 million) offset declines in the remaining seven provinces.
Municipalities issued permits for 18,100 new dwellings in multi-unit buildings and 4,600 new single-family dwellings.