Province
OTTAWA –The value of building permits in Canada fell unexpectedly in March — led by a big decline in Alberta — due to rising costs and weakening demand, Statistics Canada said yesterday.
“Construction intentions in Canada continued to cool,”the federal agency said, with both residential and non-residential sectors declining in March.
“This was the fourth decrease in five months.”
Permit values dropped 4.5 per cent to $5.6 billion in March from February, as a 32.9-per-cent plunge in Alberta pulled the rest of the country into negative territory. Ontario led all other provinces in building activity, posting a 7.3-per-cent rise to $2.1 billion.
“Excluding Alberta, the value of building permits would have increased by 5.1 per cent instead of declining 4.5 per cent nationally,” the agency said. “With marked retreats in both sectors, the total value of construction intentions was below the $1-billion mark for the first time in 13 months.”
Most economists had expected a 1.2-per-cent rise in the value of building permits in March.
In February, permits values rose by a revised 0.8 per cent.
“Overall, the performance in the Canadian major markets were mixed, with Calgary, Montreal and Edmonton declining, while Vancouver and Toronto posted gains on the month,” said Millan Mulraine, of TD Securities.
“However, despite the overall softness in this report, the Canadian housing market remains in reasonable shape, though housing activity is expected to moderate in 2008.”
© The Vancouver Province 2008
