Canadian Building-Permit Values Decline in November

Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported on Tuesday (1-9-24) that the total monthly value of building permits in Canada decreased 3.9% month-over-month to $10.9 billion (CAD) in November. Almost all building component types saw declines. On a constant dollar basis (2017=100), the total value of building permits declined 3.9% to $6.8 billion.

The total value of residential permits declined 2.8% to $7.0 billion in November. Month-over-month declines in British Columbia—down 19.4%, or $249.3 million—and Quebec—down 17.3%, or $231.0 million—due to declines in the multi-unit component were more than enough to offset reported gains in the eight other provinces during the month.

The total monthly value of nonresidential building permits in Canada declined 5.8% to $3.9 billion in November. All three nonresidential components declined, with the commercial component decreasing for the third month in a row, falling 3.5% from October.

StatCan reports that permit values in the commercial component have been trending down since the record high of $2.9 billion in March 2023. Year-over-year, the $1.7 billion value of commercial permits issued in November was 16.2% less than November 2022.