Building permits rise led by commercial and multifamily
Canadian municipalities registered and increase in building permits
Steve Randall
REP
Canadian municipalities issued $8.3 billion worth of building permits in July according to new figures from Statistics Canada.
The 3% gain month-over-month and 0.7% increase from a year earlier was driven by gains in the multifamily and commercial property types.
Residential permits totaled $5.1 billion, a 2.2% increase from June but 4.3% below July 2018. Within this, multifamily permits accounted for $2.8 billion, up 4.2% month-over-month but down 5.7% year-over-year.
The gain for multifamily units was led by Ontario (+$95 million) and Quebec (+$72 million), following declines the previous month in both provinces.
Single-family intentions slipped 0.2% from June to $2.3 billion and were 2.6% below July 2018’s level.
The number of dwellings for which permits were issued totaled 18,402, a 0.9% increase from June but 7.8% below July 2018. This includes 4,864 single-family units (down 1.7% month-over-month and down 4.7% year-over-year) and 13,538 multifamily units (up 1.9% from June but 8.9% below the July 2018 total).
Commercial leads non-res The commercial sector posted a 6.7% gain in the month from June to July with $2.0 billion worth of permits issued, offsetting three months of declines and representing an 18% gain year-over-year.
This gain was driven by high-value permits issued for offices in the Vancouver CMA.
Industrial permits fell in 6 provinces and were down 6.9% overall to $558 million, 23.4% below July 2018. Institutional permits gained 7.6% month-over-month and 26.7% year-over-year to $26.7.
Ontario sets new record Ontario issued a record high $3.5 billion in permits in July.
This was the fifth consecutive monthly gain, moving the province $209 million or 6.3% higher than the same month a year earlier. Manitoba (+$56 million) and New Brunswick (+$27 million) also reported strong year-over-year gains.
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