Ontario Construction News staff writer
Permits at lowest monthly values since December 2020 with decline in large scale projects, Statistics Canada reports.
The total monthly value of building permits in Canada dropped 18.8 per cent in April, to $9.6 billion, hitting their lowest level since December of 2020.
The non-residential sector fell 34.6 per cent after reaching a record-high March. April’s non-residential permits were valued at $3.4 billion with the commercial and industrial each falling more than 40 per cent.
On a seasonally unadjusted basis, according to Stats Can, the average commercial permit was valued at $433,000 in April compared to $901,000 in March and the average industrial permit was $413,000 in April and $1.7 million in March. The significantly lower average permit values, says Statistics Canada, show that the monthly declines in April are attributed to exceptionally high volumes of large-scale projects in March.
The residential sector outperformed ICI with monthly value of residential permits declined 6.1 per cent, to $6.1 billion. Declines were posted for both single-family and multi-dwelling sectors.
Values in Ontario were down 10.5 per cent. British Columbia was up 2.6 per cent and Saskatchewan jumped 45 per cent.