Value of Building Permits Increases After Four Months of Declines
May 20, 2010
Thanks to British Columbia and Ontario’s substantial gain in permits for multi-family and industrial buildings, the value of building permits increased 12.2 per cent in March. This was 38.9 per cent higher than the level in March of last year, according to Statistics Canada’s recent reporting.
In the non-residential sector, municipalities issued $2.1 billion worth of permits, up 9.1 per cent from February. This increase occurred mainly as a result of higher construction intentions in the industrial and institutional components. The total value of construction intentions rose in all provinces except Quebec, which posted a large decline after an increase in February.
Municipalities issued $1.5 billion worth of multi-family permits in March, up 53.6 per cent from February, its highest level since July 2008. Although Ontario and British Columbia accounted for most of the increase, six other provinces showed higher intentions for the construction of multiple dwellings.
Nationally, municipalities approved construction of 19,469 new dwellings in March, up 21.1 per cent. The gain was largely attributable to multi-family dwellings, which rose to 46 per cent to 10,038 units. This was the first time since July 2008 that the number of multiple units surpassed 10,000.
|
|