Economy

Canadian Building Permits Drop in August

October 10, 2013

Canadian building permits in August declined for the third month in a row, dropping 0.7 percent to 209,652 units from 211,080 in July, according to data released Oct. 8 by Statistics Canada. Total value of permits in August was $6.3 billion, down 21.2 percent from July following an increase of 21.4 percent the previous month. The decline was attributed to lower construction intentions in both non-residential and residential sectors. All provinces, except British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, declined in August.

The value of residential permits fell 5.4 percent to $3.9 billion in August following a 4.2 percent increase in July. Permits for 17,471 new dwellings were issued in August with permits for single-family units down 3.4 percent and multi-family units up 0.8 percent.

Value of non-residential permits fell 37.9 percent to $2.4 billion dollars in August—the lowest rate seen since February 2013. Non-residential construction value fell in all three components: commercial -45.8 percent, institutional -36.7 percent, and industrial -1.2 percent. (Source: Statistics Canada)