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Statistics Canada reports that in March, the total value of building permits issued in Canada decreased by $549.4 million (-4.1%) to $12.9 billion. The decrease was led by the non-residential sector (-$716.3 million), and it was tempered by the residential sector (+$166.9 million). On a constant dollar basis (2017=100), the total value of building permits issued in March decreased 5.1% from the previous month and was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis.
Quarterly review: British Columbia leads gains in the first quarter
The total value of building permits in the first quarter was $39.1 billion, up 2.9% from the previous quarter ($38.0 billion), a fifth consecutive quarterly increase. British Columbia (+$1.7 billion) led the growth in construction intentions. The residential sector grew $1.5 billion (+5.9%) to $25.9 billion in the first quarter, fuelled by a gain in the multi-family component (+$1.5 billion; +9.6%) to reach a record high of $17.3 billion. The gain in multi-family construction intentions was concentrated in British Columbia (+$1.2 billion), driven by broad-based growth in the Vancouver CMA. Meanwhile, single-family construction intentions edged down $55.0 million (-0.6%) to $8.6 billion, with Alberta (-$75.2 million) and Ontario (-$64.1 million) leading the decline. Nova Scotia (+$34.7 million) tempered these losses, along with five other provinces and one territory.