Majority of drop was a multi-family component -18.5%

Monday, March 7th, 2022

StatCan: Values of most building permits drop

Ephraim Vecina
other

The most prominent declines were seen in Ontario and BC

Construction intentions nationwide slowed down in January with the total value of building permits seeing an 8.8% decline to $10.1 billion, according to Statistics Canada.

On a constant dollar basis (with 2012 set at “100”), the total value of building permits declined 8.2%. StatCan said that the main driver of the decline was the slowdown in the residential sector, which saw its total value of construction intentions drop by 11.6% to $6.7 billion last month.

“The majority of the drop in the residential sector was in the multi-family component (-18.5%), while intentions for single family homes decreased by 3.8%,” StatCan reported. “Most of the declines for January were in Ontario and British Columbia.”

Read more: Lumber prices – will they continue rising?

Non-residential construction intentions also declined by 2.7% to end up at $3.4 billion in January. The commercial segment accounted for much of the decrease, with a 10.2% drop spurred by slowdown in Ontario and British Columbia, where “the decline signified a return to more normal levels following a strong December,” StatCan said.

“Nationally, the decline in commercial construction intentions was partially offset by a 15.2% increase in the industrial component,” the agency added. “Construction intentions in the institutional component (-2.6%) were slightly lower in January compared with the value in December. Declines in six provinces were mostly offset by strong growth in Ontario (+68.4%), reflecting a $102 million nursing home permit issued in North Bay.”