Municipalities issued building permits worth $5.8 billion in February, up 9.9% from January, according to figures released this morning by Statistics Canada. The February advance was a result of gains in the non-residential sector in Alberta and Ontario, which more than offset the decline in the residential sector.
The nation's number crunchers go on to say that in the non-residential sector, the value of permits totalled $2.8 billion in February, up 72.9% compared with January. Alberta and Ontario accounted for much of the growth at the national level. In February, five other provinces also posted gains in the non-residential sector.
In contrast, the value of residential permits fell 18.3% to $3 billion in February, a decrease attributable to both multi-family and single-family dwellings. Ontario and Quebec registered the largest declines.
Industrial construction intentions increased to a record $884.4 million in February. The gain occurred as a result of higher construction intentions for transportation-related buildings in Alberta and manufacturing plants in Ontario.
In the institutional component, the value of permits issued by municipalities doubled to $702 million, following four consecutive monthly declines. The increase in February came from seven provinces, led by Ontario. The gain in Ontario was attributable to higher construction intentions for government administrative buildings.
In the commercial component, the value of permits rose 22.6% to $1.2 billion. The gain in February followed three consecutive monthly declines. In February, seven provinces contributed to the increase, through various types of buildings, including hotels, retail stores and warehouses.
The agency also said, construction intentions for multi-family dwellings fell 34.4% to $892 million in February, the first time in a year that the value of multi-family permits fell below the billion-dollar mark. The decline was attributable to decreases in five provinces, particularly Ontario and Quebec.
The value of building permits for single-family dwellings fell 8.6% to $2.1 billion, following three consecutive monthly gains. The February decrease was a result of declines in six provinces, led by Ontario, Quebec and Alberta.
At the national level, municipalities approved the construction of 13,488 new dwellings in February, down 24.6%. The decrease was largely attributable to multi-family dwellings, which fell 36.6% to 6,690 units. Single-family dwellings declined 7.3% to 6,798 units.
