Value of Canadian Building Permits Declines in March

On Monday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported that the total value of building permits in Canada declined 11.7% month-over-month to $10.5 million (CAD) in March. On a constant dollar basis (2017=100), the total value of building permits decreased 11.6%, ending two consecutive months of increases.

Residential

The value of residential building permits decreased 8.3% in March to $6.5 billion. Ontario led with a 13.7% decline, with both single-family and multi-family permits suffering losses.

Across Canada, 16,800 new multi-unit dwellings and 4,200 new single-family homes were authorized in March. From April 2023 to March 2024, a total of 260,200 new units were authorized.

Nonresidential

Nonresidential construction intentions decreased 16.7% to $4.0 billion in March. The industrial sector experienced a decline of 46.1%, or $629.8 million. The institutional sector declined 22.2%, or $293.1 million. The commercial component tempered offset those declines, growing 5.8% to $2.2 billion.

The large decline in the industrial component was due to the lack of major industrial permits issued in March compared to February, which was the second-highest month ever recorded.

Q1 Review

The total value of building permits in Q1 was $33.4 billion, an increase of 3.7% from $32.2 billion in 2024Q4.

The value of residential building permits edged up 1.8%. Growth in the multi-unit component—up 7.9%, or $919.5 million—was partially offset by declines in the single-family component—down 6.6%, or $565.6 million.

Construction intentions in the nonresidential sector increased 6.9% to $13.0 billion, led by the commercial component, up 22.3% to $6.6 billion—the highest level of the previous four quarters. Growth was driven by permits for office buildings.