Canadian Building Permits Rise 8.2% in January 2021

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) is reporting that in January 2021, there was a record high total value of building permits issued, increasing 8.2% to $9.9 billion and exceeding the previous record of $9.6 billion set in April 2019. The value of permits issued in the residential sector increased 10.6% to $7.1 billion in January—rising past the previous peak of $6.5 billion posted two months earlier. Provincial highs were reported in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Manitoba. The majority of the increases in the residential sector were attributable to single-family homes, which climbed 15.1% to a record $3.5 billion — the eighth increase in nine months. Multi-family permits increased 6.5% to $3.5 billion. The total value of permits issued for non-residential buildings rose 2.6% to $2.8 billion in January after a -10.8% drop in December.