The value of residential construction permits issued by Canada’s municipalities in January exceeded $5 billion for the third time in four months.
The $5.1 billion value of permits is a 2.7 per cent increase from December with gains in Alberta, BC and Manitoba leading seven provincial increases; and offsetting a large drop in Ontario.
Intentions for multi-family construction was up 3.6 per cent to $2.3 billion, Statistics Canada reported; while single-family permits totalled $2.8 billion, a rise of 1.9 per cent from December.
The volume of new homes for which permits were issued slipped to 19,207, with multi-family units down 5.2 per cent while single-family units increased 0.8 per cent.
By metro area, Edmonton posted the largest rise in permits followed by Hamilton but in total 20 of the 36 census metropolitan areas posted gains.
For non-residential permits, the total issued was up 11.2 per cent to $2.5 billion with every component increasing led by institutional buildings.
