July building permits see 1.5% decline—Statistics Canada report

Statistics Canada has reported that the total monthly value of building permits in Canada decreased by 1.5% in July, totaling $11.7 billion. Despite this overall decline, the residential sector saw a monthly increase of 5.4%. Notably, Ontario played a significant role in this rise, contributing to the growth in single-family and multi-family dwelling permits with an increase of 23.9% to $3.5 billion in July.

July marked the third consecutive month of growth in single-family home permits across Canada, increasing by 7.6% to reach $2.8 billion. This positive trend follows a year of declining construction intentions for single-family homes from May 2022 to April 2023. Among the provinces, six—Ontario, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island—recorded growth in residential permit values for multi-family dwellings in July.

In contrast, non-residential construction intentions saw a decline across all components in July, with the total monthly value of non-residential permits decreasing by 11.5% to $4.3 billion. This dip followed a period of exceptionally high-valued hospital permits issued in June. The institutional component decreased by 19.7% to $1.3 billion, while the commercial component decreased by 10.8% to $1.9 billion, and the industrial component posted a more modest decline of 1.0% to $1.1 billion.