Quarterly review: British Columbia leads gains in the first quarter<\/strong><\/p>\n 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\u00a0billion (+5.9%) to $25.9\u00a0billion in the first quarter, fuelled by a gain in the multi-family component (+$1.5\u00a0billion; +9.6%) to reach a record high of $17.3\u00a0billion. The gain in multi-family construction intentions was concentrated in British Columbia (+$1.2\u00a0billion), driven by broad-based growth in the Vancouver CMA<\/a>. Meanwhile, single-family construction intentions edged down $55.0\u00a0million (-0<\/span>.6%) to $8.6\u00a0billion, with Alberta (-$75.2\u00a0million) and Ontario (-$64.1\u00a0million) leading the decline. Nova Scotia (+$34.7\u00a0million) tempered these losses, along with five other provinces and one territory.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"-\"](\"https:\/\/www.canadiancontractor.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/march-permits.png\")
Statistics Canada reports<\/a> that in March, the total value of building permits issued in Canada decreased by $549.4 million (-4<\/span>.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\u00a05.1% from the previous month and was up\u00a011.1% on a year-over-year basis.<\/p>\n