April building permits value plummets

The total monthly value of building permits in Canada dropped 18.8% to $9.6 billion in April, the lowest level since December 2020, says Statistics Canada. On a constant dollar basis, the total value of building permits fell 18.5% to $5.6 billion. Following a record high in March, the total monthly value of non-residential permits fell 34.6% to $3.4 billion in April. The drop was observed across all components, but was most pronounced in commercial (-40.2%) and industrial (-49.6%) construction intentions. The total monthly value of residential permits declined 6.1% to $6.1 billion, sliding for the second consecutive month. Declines were posted for both the single-family and multi-dwelling components. Ontario, down 10.5%, greatly contributed to the monthly decrease in the residential sector. At the same time, British Columbia was up 2.6% and Saskatchewan was up 45%; these two provinces were the only ones to post monthly growth in residential construction intentions.