Total Value of Canadian Building Permits, Both Residential and Nonresidential, Decline in July

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) reported today (9-1-22) that in July, the total value of building permits in Canada dropped 6.6% to $11.2 billion (CAD), mainly due to declines in the residential sector. On a constant dollar basis (2012=100), the total value of building permits decreased 4.8% to 6.9 billion.

Residential permits fell 8.6% in July to $7.6 billion nationally. Strong gains in BC and Quebec were offset by weaker construction intentions in six other provinces. Construction intentions in the single-family home component declined 5.7%. Despite the decline, this component remained 14.8% higher than the same month of 2021. The value of building permits in the multi-family home sector dropped 11.1%.

In July, the total permit value of the non-residential sector decreased 2.1% to $3.6 billion. Gains in the commercial and institutional components were more than offset by losses in the industrial component. Led by the third consecutive monthly decline in Ontario, the value of building permits in the industrial sector declined 16.9%. Commercial permit values inched 0.1% higher. StatsCan notes that weak results in June, as well as several large permits in the instructional component, saw that sector value climb 7.9% in July.