Last month saw an overall decline in both residential and non-residential sectors
New figures from Statistics Canada have revealed that the total value of the country’s building permits decreased in December, with declines reported in all dwelling types except one: single-family homes.
According to StatCan, the total value of all building permits fell 4.1% month-over-month to $9.1 billion in December, with gains in seven provinces largely offset by a 13.2% decrease in Ontario.
Read more: StatsCan: Value of residential building permits grew by 34% last year
The provinces that saw increases were led by Newfoundland and Labrador, which enjoyed a 119.9% increase, followed by Nova Scotia (62.5%), Saskatchewan (41.8%), Prince Edward Island (16.4), New Brunswick (8.1%), Manitoba (5.8%), and Quebec (2.2%).
Meanwhile, the Yukon, at 22.7%, was the only territory that experienced an increase.
Nationwide, all three non-residential components — commercial (-9.0%), industrial (-24.4%) and institutional (-6.1%)— reported declines as the overall sector fell 10.8% to $2.7 billion in December.
The residential sector as a whole also edged down 0.9% to $6.4 billion after posting a record-setting month in November. StatCan figures showed that the national value for multi-family dwellings declined 7.2% to $3.3 billion, largely due to a 12.8% drop in Ontario.
It’s a different story for single-family homes, however, with the total value of building permits for the dwelling type rising 7.0% to $3.1 billion, surpassing the previous record of $2.9 billion set in October 2016.
The increase was led by Ontario (with a 6.8% increase) and Quebec (11.1% increase), with the gains in Ontario mainly due to the Toronto census metropolitan area recording a 51.9% increase.
