Canadian Building Permits Decline in July

Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported on Thursday (9-7-23) that the total monthly value of building permits in Canada declined 1.5% to $11.7 billion in July. On a constant dollar basis (2012=100), the total value of building permits was down 3.5% to $6.7 billion.

The total monthly value of residential permits increased 5.4% to $7.4 billion in July. Across Canada, July marked the third consecutive monthly increase in single-family home permits, up 7.6% to $2.8 billion. Permits for 22,300 new dwellings were issued in July, bringing the cumulative total of new intended units to 150,400 in 2023. This is 10.9% below the 168,800 permits issued during the same period in 2022.

The total monthly value of non-residential permits declined 11.5% to $4.3 billion in July, following some exceptionally high-valued hospital permits issued in June. As a result, the institutional component was down 19.7% to $1.3 billion in July. Construction intentions in the commercial component were down 10.8% to $1.9 billion. The industrial component posted a modest decline of 1.0% to $1.1 billion.