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Quebec and Alberta drive June permits: StatCan

Aug. 7, 2014 – Contractors took out building permits worth $8 billion in June, up 13.5 per cent from May. The June increase was mainly due to higher construction intentions for institutional and industrial buildings in Quebec and commercial buildings in Alberta. The value of non-residential building permits rose 32.5 per cent to $3.8 billion in June, a third consecutive monthly gain. Quebec was responsible for most of the growth at the national level. Declines were recorded in six provinces, with Manitoba and Ontario posting the largest decreases. Both provinces reported sharp gains in May.

Aug. 7, 2014 – Contractors took out building permits worth $8 billion in June, up 13.5 per cent from May. The June increase was mainly due to higher construction intentions for institutional and industrial buildings in Quebec and commercial buildings in Alberta. The value of non-residential building permits rose 32.5 per cent to $3.8 billion in June, a third consecutive monthly gain. Quebec was responsible for most of the growth at the national level. Declines were recorded in six provinces, with Manitoba and Ontario posting the largest decreases. Both provinces reported sharp gains in May.

In the residential sector, the value of permits edged up 0.4 per cent to $4.2 billion, a fourth consecutive monthly increase. The gains observed in four provinces were mostly offset by declines in the other provinces. Ontario posted the largest advance, followed by Nova Scotia and Quebec. British Columbia had the largest decrease.

The value of building permits in the institutional component more than doubled to $1.3 billion in June. Construction intentions for institutional buildings were up in four provinces. Quebec, which had the largest advance, posted a sharp increase in construction intentions for medical facilities.

In the industrial component, construction intentions rose 63.9 per cent to $744 million, up for a third consecutive month. The increase was mainly attributable to higher construction intentions for information technology buildings in Quebec and utilities buildings in Ontario.

Canadian municipalities issued $1.8 billion worth of commercial building permits in June, 2.1 per cent less than in May. The decline was a result of lower construction intentions in a variety of commercial buildings, including hotels and restaurants, warehouses and retail complexes. Declines were observed in seven provinces, with Ontario and Manitoba posting the largest decreases.

In contrast, Alberta, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador reported gains.

Municipalities issued $2.4 billion worth of building permits for single-family dwellings in June, up 5.5 per cent from May. It was the third consecutive monthly advance. Increases were reported in six provinces, led by Alberta, with Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia following.

Construction intentions for multi-family units fell six per cent to $1.7 billion in June. This decline came in the wake of three straight monthly increases and was mainly due to lower construction intentions in Western Canada. Conversely, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Quebec posted gains.

At the national level, municipalities approved the construction of 16,770 new dwellings in June, down 4.6 per cent from May. The decrease was mainly due to a 10.7 per cent decline in multi-family units to 10,202. The number of single-family dwellings rose 6.9 per cent to 6,568 units.

The total value of permits was up in five provinces in June, led by Quebec, with Alberta a distant second.

Quebec reported the largest increase by far, with substantial advances in construction intentions for institutional buildings, industrial buildings and, to a lesser extent, multi-family dwellings.

Alberta’s growth was largely due to higher construction intentions for commercial buildings and single-family dwellings.

The largest decline occurred in Manitoba, with commercial buildings accounting for most of the decrease.

In June, the value of permits was up in 20 of the 34 census metropolitan areas.

Montréal reported the largest gain in June, followed far behind by Calgary. The value of permits issued in Montréal rose primarily because of higher construction intentions for institutional and industrial buildings, while in Calgary, the increase was due to construction permits for commercial buildings.

The largest decreases were reported in Winnipeg, followed by Toronto and Vancouver. The declines in Winnipeg and Toronto resulted from lower construction intentions for commercial buildings. In Vancouver, the decrease was largely attributable to lower construction intentions for multi-family dwellings.

For more information
statcan.gc.ca