Non-residential leads building permit growth

The total monthly value of building permits in Canada advanced 11.3% in March to $11.8 billion, led by sharply increasing monthly non-residential growth (32%), says Statistics Canada. On a constant dollar basis (2012=100), the total value of building permits went up 12.2% to $6.9 billion. Non-residential permits increased 32% to a record-high $5.2 billion. The industrial component increased 16.7%, the commercial component increased 41.5%, and the institutional component increased 29.5%. On the residential side, the value of new permits tapered off in March following a promising February. The value of residential building permits declined 0.9% to $6.6 billion. Nationally, permits for 21,400 new dwellings were issued in the month. British Columbia saw increases in construction intentions (values up 30.9% or $321.9 million) in March. However, these gains were offset by declines in five provinces, led by Ontario (8.1%).