Municipalities issued $7.3 billion worth of building permits in August, up 10.4% from July but 2.2% lower than in August 2015.
Five provinces reported an increase in permits over a year ago. Manitoba experienced the largest gain, (+47.4%) followed by New Brunswick (+33.2%). The steepest annualized losses occurred in Newfoundland and Labrador (-49.2), Saskatchewan (-36.2%) and Alberta (-22.0%). Quebec recorded a year-over-year increase of 18.4%, while Ontario experienced a 4.8% annualized loss.
Builders took out residential building permits worth $4.5 billion in August, up 9.6% from July but 4.1% lower than in August 2015. Six provinces reported a decline in their annualized growth rate for residential permits. Newfoundland and Labrador recorded the highest year-over-year downturn (-38.0%) followed by Alberta (-26.9%) and Saskatchewan (-20.5%). New Brunswick recorded the strongest annualized gain (+33.4%), followed by British Columbia (+16.2%). Ontario’s year-over-year loss was 5.0%, while Quebec recorded a 0.4% year-over-year loss.
Municipalities issued permits worth $1.9 billion for multi-family dwellings in August, up 14.7% from July but 14.3% lower than in August 2015. Higher month-over-month construction intentions for projects were recorded in four provinces. The largest increases occurred in British Columbia and Ontario. Alberta posted the largest decline. Permits for single family units amounted to $2.5 billion, up 6.0% from July and 5.4% higher than in August 2015. The monthly increases came mainly from higher construction intentions in Ontario and Alberta.
Municipalities approved 16,544 new dwellings in August, up 5.9% from July but 11.0% lower than in August 2015. There was a 2.5% monthly increase but a 0.8% annualized loss in the number of single-family units, which totaled 5,987. There was a 7.9% monthly increase but a 15.9% annualized loss in the number of multi-family units approved, which totaled 10,557.
The value of non-residential permits in August increased 11.6% from July to $2.9 billion and increased 0.8% from August 2015. From July to August, industrial permits grew 14.8% to $496 million and were up 3.3% from August 2015; institutional permits were down 1.1% from July to $800 million but were 0.3% higher than a year earlier; while commercial sector permits increased 18.3% from July to $1.6 billion, and were up 0.3% from August 2015. The institutional downturn in August over may came mainly from lower construction intentions for medical facilities. The largest provincial losses were in Ontario and Alberta. The monthly industrial increase chiefly resulted from higher construction intentions for utilities buildings. Increases were reported in fiive provinces, particularly Manitoba and Ontario. Commercial construction intention increases occurred in seven provinces led by Ontario. The monthly gain came largely from higher construction intentions for retail complexes and recreational buildings.