Accelerated demand in major markets proved to be impetus for growth
With heightened demand putting greater pressure on development timetables, Canada saw a 21% increase in the total value of building permits in February, reaching a record high of approximately $12.4 billion.
A major impetus of this growth was British Columbia, which posted a 130.2% increase during the same month. Statistics Canada reported that on a constant dollar basis (with 2012 values set at 100), the total value of building permits increased 22.1% in February.
Construction intentions in the residential segment grew by 9.8% to $7.5 billion, spurred by increases in nine provinces.
“Gains in multi-family permit values in British Columbia (+57.9%) reversed January’s decline and contributed to the 18.5% increase at the national level, along with the gains in seven other provinces,” StatCan said. “The total value of single family home permits rose 1.5% in February. Seven provinces reported increases.”
Read more: Canada house prices – why do they keep rising?
The non-residential sector saw an even greater jump of 43.2% to around $4.9 billion, driven largely by major hospital permits in British Columbia and Quebec.
Institutional construction intentions spiked by 216.4%, while commercial permits had a much more modest 5.6% increase in February, with six provinces reporting increases. On the other hand, the total value of industrial building intentions declined by 27.9%, owing to weakness in Quebec (down by 44.8%) and Ontario (down by 28.8%).
