Canadian Building Permits Decline in December

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) reported today (2-2-22) that the total value of building permits decreased -1.9% to $11.2 billion (CAD) in December. Declines were reported in both the residential and non-residential sectors. On a constant dollar basis (2012=100), the total value of building permits decreased -3.1%.

After a strong showing in November the residential sector experienced a modest setback. The total value of residential permits decreased by -2.7% to $7.7 billion following a strong November (+13.3%). Multi-family permit values declined by -6.0% to $4.1 billion. Construction intentions for single family homes were up 1.3% to $3.6 billion, marking the third consecutive month of gains for this component at the national level.

In the non-residential sector, the total value of non-residential permits remained unchanged at $3.4 billion. In the industrial sector, construction intentions rose 8.4% to $762 million. The value of institutional building permits increased 17.2% to $720 million. Those increases were offset by the total value of commercial permits declining -7.9% to 1.9 billion in December.

For all of Q4 2021, the total value of building permits jumped 10.3% to a new high of $33.1 billion. This surpassed the previous record of $31.5 billion set in Q1 of 2021.

The residential sector in Q4 increased sharply by 11.9% to a record $22.7 billion, contributing almost four-fifths of the overall total building permit value increase. Both permit values for multi-family and single-family components rose strongly compared with Q3, with the multi-family component exceeding $12 billion for the first time.

The non-residential sector rose 7.0% to $10.4 billion in Q4, but it still remains -2.3% below the pre-pandemic peak set in Q4 2019. Commercial permits were up 9.9% to $5.9 billion, while institutional and industrial permits rose 3.1% and 4.0%, respectively.