Ontario Construction News staff writer
A new report from Statistics Canada shows the value of building permits across the country dropped to $11.2 billion in July, down 6.6 per cent.
An 8.6 per cent decline compared to last year in the residential sector pulled down the national stats. However, the non-residential sector experienced a smaller annual decline at 2.1 per cent.
StatsCan reported “weak construction intentions” were prevalent in six of the 10 provinces.
In Ontario, permits for single-family houses were down 13.9%, at a time when all levels of government are focused on increasing supply. The national decline in the same sector was5 7%. However, this component remained 14.8% higher than the same month of 2021,” StatsCan concluded.
The multi-family home segment fell 32.8% in Ontario this year, while values jumped 9.3% in BC.
While gains were reported in the commercial and institutional segments, permit values plummeted by -16.9% for industrial projects. Ontario led in terms of permit value losses for newly-built industrial space, down -31.1% (the third consecutive monthly decline), and a return to “more typical levels” after nearing the billion-dollar mark in January and April.
Institutional building sector was up 7.9% nationally led by BC at 207.2%.