Economy

Canadian Building Permits Fall in November
Written by Sandy Williams
January 9, 2014
Canadian building permits declined in November to 18,173, falling 3.6 percent from October. The value of permits issued dropped 6.7 percent to $6.8 billion after gaining 8 percent the previous month. Permit values have been an upward trend with eight monthly increases in 2013.
In the residential sector, the total value of permits declined 7.6 percent to $4.1 billion in November. Permit values for multi-family dwellings fell 8.7 percent in November to $1.9 billion after posting two months of gains. Single-family dwelling permits fell 6.7 percent to $2.2 billion. A total of 18,173 residential housing permits were issued in November with multi-family falling 3.9 percent to 12,027 units and single-family dwellings down 3.1 percent to 6,146 units. Year-over-year, residential permits dropped 5.7 percent for single family units but rose 23.4 percent for multi-family units.
In the non-residential sector building permits dropped for institutional and industrial buildings, with total permit value in the sector falling 5.2 percent to $2.7 billion after rising 9.7 percent in October. Institutional permit values dropped 32 percent to $354 million. Value of industrial permits fell for the fourth consecutive month, edging down 2.2 percent to $455 million. Commercial building permit values rose a slight 1.8 percent to $1.9 billion after surging 25 percent in October.
The total value of permits dropped in 22 of 34 of the metropolitan areas covered by Statistics Canada.

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Economy

Housing starts slide in August, but interest rate cut should help
Housing starts slowed in the US in August as affordability challenges and cautious builder sentiment weighed on new construction activity.

Second steel derivatives S232 inclusion window opens, business community voices concern
The US Department of Commerce announced that its second window for submitting applications for the inclusion of derivative steel and aluminum products in Section 232 tariffs is now open, according to the US Federal Register. September’s Inclusion Window Sept. 15 through Sept. 29, applicants can email requests for inclusions to the Defense Industrial Base Programs. The first […]

Steel Summit: ITR economist urges execs to prepare for growth, not recession
If the steel industry professionals who made it to the very final presentation of this year’s SMU Steel Summit were expecting another round of cautious forecasting, they were in for a surprise. Because what they got was a wake-up call.

ISM: Manufacturing growth remained down in August
US manufacturing activity remained muted in August despite a marginal gain from July's recent low, according to supply executives contributing to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM)’s latest report.

Steel Summit: Dr. Basu blames tariffs for riskier path ahead
Steel executives packed the main conference hall of the 2025 SMU Steel Summit on Tuesday, Aug. 26, to hear economist Dr. Anirban Basu lay out his blunt view of tariffs, inflation, and demand.