Building permits down, BC leads decline

There was a decline in building permits issued by Canadian municipalities in March according to newly-released data.

Statistics Canada says that overall permit issuance in April of $7.8 billion was 4.6% lower than in March with all sectors except commercial recording lower values.

Overall the decline was led by British Columbia where the value of permits decreased 22.6% to $1.2 billion, following a record high in March ($1.6 billion). However, March’s boom was partly impacted by several permits valued at over $100 million each.

The nationwide residential sector saw permit issuance drop 4.3% to $5.1 billion with five provinces posting declines, again led by British Columbia.

Multifamily permits totalled $2.7 billion, down 5.2% from March with four provinces contributing to the drop led by British Columbia and Alberta.

The value of single-family permits fell 3.3% to $2.3 billion, a fourth consecutive monthly decline. Ontario and British Columbia led declines in 8 provinces while Alberta recorded the largest gain, up $46 million from March.

Municipalities approved the construction of 19,372 new dwellings in April, up 3.6% from the previous month. The multifamily sector gained 5.0% to 14,189 new units. Single-family dwellings edged down 0.2% to 5,183 new units.

 

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