Municipalities issued $6.1 billion worth of building permits in February, down 11.6% from January but 3.1% higher than in February 2013.
Four provinces reported an increase in permits over a year ago. Double-digit increases were reported on all four. Prince Edward Island led the way (+167.9%) followed by New Brunswick (+62.4%) and Ontario (+26.2%). Double-digit annualized decreases over February 2013 occurred in five provinces. The largest year-over-year losses were recorded in Manitoba (-37/2%), Nova Scotia (-28.2%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (+26.7%). Quebec reported a 1.5% annualized decrease.
Builders took out residential building permits worth $3.6 billion in February, down 21.0% from January but 0.9% higher than in February 2013. Six provinces reported an annualized growth rate for residential permits: Prince Edward Island (+126.3%) and New Brunswick (+59.4%) led the way. Annualized decreases occurred in the other four Provinces. The largest lose was recorded in Manitoba (-2i9.5%) followed by Nova Scotia (-2y7.8%) and Saskatchewan (-11.%). Ontario’s annualized gain for residential permits was 6.6% while Quebec’s year-over-year loss was 5.4%.
Municipalities issued permits worth $1.5 billion for multi-family dwellings in February, down 31.5% from January but 15.0% higher than in February 2013. Month-over-month declines were posted in all provinces with the largest losses reported in Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia. Permits for single-family units decreased 12.0% from January to $2.2 billion and were down 6.7% over February 2013. The monthly loss came from lower construction intentions posted in six provinces, chiefly in in Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia.
Municipalities approved 14,011 new dwellings in February, down 23.8% from January and 0.6% lower than in February 2013. There was an 14.3% monthly decrease and a 12.6% annualized loss in the number of single-family units, which totaled 5,722. There was a 29.3% monthly decline but a 9.9% annualized increase in the number of multi-family units approved, which totaled 8,289.
The value of non-residential permits in February grew 6.6% from January to $2.5 billion and increased 8.3% from February 2013. From January to February, industrial permits grew 26.8% to $348 million but were down 11.6% from February 2013; institutional permits gained 14.9% from January to $673 million and were up 53.9% from a year earlier; while commercial sector permits lost 0.3% from January to $1.5 billion, up 0.2% from February 2013.