Municipalities issued $7.7 billion worth of building permits in July, down 0.6% from June and 13.4% lower than in July 2014.
Four provinces reported an increase in permits over a year ago. Prince Edward Island recorded a 71.8% year-over-year gain while Saskatchewan posted a 25.4% increase. The largest annualized losses occurred in Manitoba (-55.3%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (-37.8%). Ontario’s decline from July 2014 was 10.8% while Quebec reported a 39.1% loss.
Builders took out residential building permits worth $5.0 billion in July, up 8.7% from June and 1.1% higher than in July 2014. Four provinces reported an annualized growth rate for residential permits: British Columbia led the way (+36.9) followed by Prince Edward Island (+13.4%) and Nova Scotia (+5.8%). Quebec posted a 3.1% gain while Ontario’s year-over-year loss was 3.2% . Double-digit annualized decreases occurred in four provinces with the steepest declines occurring in Newfoundland and Labrador (-35.3%) and Saskatchewan (-31.7%).
Municipalities issued permits worth $2.5 billion for multi-family dwellings in July, up 14.3% from June but 1.3% lower than in July 2014. Higher month-over-month construction intentions for projects in British Columbia and Ontario were mainly responsible. Permits for single-family units also amounted to $2.5 billion, up 3.6% from June, as well as 3.5% higher than in July 2014. Monthly advances were posted in four provinces: Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and Nova Scotia. Quebec and New Brunswick reported the largest losses.
Municipalities approved 19,555 new dwellings in July, up 10.6% from June but 4.0% lower than in July 2014. There was a 4.8% monthly increase but a 3.0% annualized loss in the number of single-family units, which totaled 6,171. There was a 13.5% monthly gain but a 4.4% annualized decrease in the number of multi-family units approved, which totaled 13,384.
The value of non-residential permits in July fell 13.9% from June to $2.7 billion and decreased 31.3% from July 2014. From June to July, industrial permits fell 6.7% to $502 million and were down 4.7% from July 2014; institutional permits dropped 43.7% from June to $646 million and were down 62.2% from a year earlier; while commercial sector permits gained 6.1% from June to $1.6 billion, but were down 9.6% from July 2014. The institutional downturn came mainly from decreased construction intentions in six provinces, with Ontario and Alberta accounting for most of the monthly decline. The monthly industrial decrease mainly resulted from lower construction intentions for maintenance buildings in six provinces, led by Quebec and Ontario. Saskatchewan, Quebec and Nova Scotia reported the largest gains in commercial construction.