Municipalities issued $7.1 billion worth of building permits in December, up 7.7% from November and 10.4% higher than in December 2013.
Seven provinces reported an increase in permits over a year ago. The largest increase was recorded in Manitoba (+82.5%) followed by Nova Scotia (+66.9%) and Prince Edward Island (+53.2%). The year-over-year losses were recorded in Quebec (-34.3%) followed by Saskatchewan (-12.3%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (-8.1%). Ontario posted a 24.8% annualized gain.
Builders took out residential building permits worth $4.4 billion in December, unchanged from November but 20.2% higher than in December 2013. Eight provinces reported an annualized growth rate for residential permits: Prince Edward Island led the way (+174.4%) followed by Nova Scotia (+90.6%) and Manitoba (+69.3%). Annualized decreases occurred in Saskatchewan (-37.6%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (-0.9%). Quebec’s annualized increase was 7.3% while Ontario recorded a 32.1% year-over-
Municipalities issued permits worth $1.8 billion for multi-family dwellings in December, down 9.5% from November but 24.1% higher than in December 2013. Month-over-month declines occurred in five provinces, led by Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. Permits for single-family units amounted to $2.6 billion, up 8.0% from November, and 17.6% higher than in December 2013. Monthly increases were posted in all provinces, with the largest gains occurring in British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta.
Municipalities approved 16,974 new dwellings in December, down 5.6% from November but 2.4% higher than in December 2013. There was a 5.5% monthly increase and a 6.7% annualized gain in the number of single-family units, which totaled 6,473. There was
an 11.9% monthly decline and a 0.3% annualized decrease in the number of multi-family units approved, which totaled 9,550.
The value of non-residential permits in December grew 22.9% from November to $2.7 billion but decreased 2.4% from December 2013. From November to December, industrial permits gained 36.5% to $529 million and were up 6.7% from December 2013; institutional permits increased 17.7% from November to $768 million but were down 22.2% from a year earlier; while commercial sector permits grew 21.2% from November to $1.4 billion, and were up 9.0% from December 2013. The institutional gain came mainly from increased construction intentions for educational institutions, primarily in Alberta. In the commercial sector, the increase came from higher construction intentions for a variety of buildings. The value of commercial permits increased in six provinces, notably in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec. The industrial increase mainly resulted from higher construction intentions for transportation-related buildings and manufacturing plants and utilities especially in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.