Contractors took out $6.2 billion in building permits in December, up 2.4% from November and 32.6% higher than in December 2008, according to figures released this morning by Statistics Canada.
The increase in the value of permits in December was entirely due to the non-residential sector. Conversely, the upward trend in the total value of construction intentions in 2009 was largely due to the residential sector.
In the non-residential sector, municipalities issued permits worth $2.3 billion, 6.8% more than in November and 13.3% more than in December 2008. The December 2009 increase stems primarily from an increase in the commercial components in Alberta and Ontario.
In the residential sector, the value of permits remained steady at $3.9 billion. Declines in Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba were offset by a gain in British Columbia. In recent months, the value of permits has started to approach the peak reached before the economic slowdown.
In December, the total value of construction intentions rose in seven provinces, led by Alberta and British Columbia.
The nation's number crunchers also said the value of commercial building permits increased for the third straight month, advancing 29.2% to $1.5 billion in December. The consecutive gains raised the level of construction intentions for commercial buildings to their highest point in 2009. The December increase was largely due to construction intentions for office buildings in Ontario and Alberta.
In the institutional component, municipalities issued permits worth $514 million in December, down 21.9%. It was the second consecutive decline. Alberta and Ontario posted decreases as a result of a decline in the value of building permits for educational institutions.
After reaching their peak for the year in October 2009, construction intentions in the industrial component were down in December for the second straight month. Intentions declined 19.0% to $240 million, after falling 57.7% in November. Ontario led the seven provinces that posted lower construction intentions.
After nine consecutive monthly increases, the value of building permits for single-family dwellings declined 1.3% to $2.5 billion. The declines in Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan more than offset the gains recorded in the other seven provinces. British Columbia and Nova Scotia posted the largest advances in single-family construction intentions.
Municipalities issued $1.3 billion worth of permits for multi-family dwellings in December, up 2.1% from November. The increase resulted from higher construction intentions in four provinces, including British Columbia and Alberta.
At the national level, municipalities approved the construction of 18,321 new dwellings in December, up 2.4%. The gain was attributable to multi-family dwellings, which rose 5.5% to 9,406 units. The number of single-family dwellings approved declined 0.6% to 8,915 units.
The value of building permits was up in seven provinces.
The most significant increases were in Alberta and British Columbia. In Alberta, the advance in the value of permits was attributable to the commercial component and to multi-family dwellings. British Columbia's gain was due to the residential sector.
Manitoba posted the largest drop in December, as a result of declines in both the non-residential and residential sectors. Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador posted declines resulting from their non-residential sectors.
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