Building permits picked-up in December

The value of residential building permits increased 16.3 per cent in December, almost erasing the previous month’s decline. Statistics Canada reports that intentions reached $4.7 billion with gains in every province except Saskatchewan. Multi-family dwellings saw the largest rise, up 39.2 per cent to $2.3 billion.

There were gains in most provinces, led by Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. Newfoundland and Labrador was the lone province to post a decline. There was a slight drop in the value of permits for single-family homes, down 0.1 per cent. Alberta saw the sharpest rise in permits issued, up 26 per cent following a 56.3 per cent drop in November.

In volume terms, there were 17,506 new dwellings approved in December, up 16.5 per cent from November, multi-family permits rose 25.6 per cent.

Non-residential permits totaled $2.3 billion, up 2.5 per cent. The total value of permits across residential and non-residential was $6.9 billion, up 11.3 billion. The December increased followed a 19.9 per cent decline in November.

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