Municipalities issued $6.0 billion worth of building permits in February, up 1.7% from January but 8.5% lower than in February 2012.
The only three provinces to report a growth in permits over a year earlier were Manitoba
(+40.3%), Alberta (+20.9%) and Prince Edward Island (+0.1%) Double-digit annualized decreases over February 2012 occurred in five provinces. New Brunswick suffered the largest loss (-37.2%) followed by Nova Scotia (-33.7%) and British Columbia
(-33.6%). Ontario experienced a 14.4% decline while Quebec’s loss was 8.9%.
Builders took out residential building permits worth $3.6 billion in February, down 7.2% from January and 10.4% lower than in February 2012. Three provinces reported an annualized growth rate for residential permits: Manitoba (+27.2%), Alberta (+9.8) and Nova Scotia (+7.7%). Double-digit annualized decreases occurred in six provinces. The largest losses took place in Newfoundland and Labrador (-55.6%), New Brunswick
(-51.0%) and Prince Edward Island (-44.4%). Quebec’s annualized decline for residential permits was 16.4% and Ontario’s was 16.1%.
Municipalities issued permits worth $1.3 billion for multi-family dwellings in February, down 19.1% from January and 21.4% lower than in February 2012. The decline from January to February was the seventh monthly decrease in the last eight months. There were losses in all provinces except Prince Edward Island, with New Brunswick, British Columbia and Ontario posting the largest decreases. Permits for single-family units increased 1.1% from January to $2.3 billion but were down 2.8% over February 2012. This was the second consecutive monthly increase. The monthly upturn was attributable to higher construction intentions in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario. Five provinces posted monthly decreases led by Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Municipalities approved 14,071 new dwellings in February, down 12.0% from January and 19.0% lower than in February 2012. There was a 1.2% monthly increase but a 7.9% annualized loss in the number of single-family units, which totaled 6,534. There was a 21.0% monthly loss and a 26.6% annualized decrease in the number of multi-family units approved, which totaled 7,537.
The value of non-residential permits in February gained 18.9% from January to $2.4 billion but decreased 5.5% from February 2012. From January to February, industrial permits gained 34.7% to $400 million; institutional permits grew 27.8% to $447 million; and commercial sector permits were up 13.2% to $1.5 billion.