Canada Building Permits, Construction Investment: 2017


The value of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities declined 7.7 per cent to $7.7 billion in November, said Statistics Canada Monday.

CANADA CONSTRUCTION INVESTMENT AND BUILDING PERMITS: 2017

Investment in non-residential building construction in Canada totalled $13.7 billion in the fourth quarter, up 1.6 per cent over the previous quarter, marking a third consecutive quarterly increase, according to Statistics Canada Tuesday. Nationally, gains were reported for all three components (institutional, industrial and commercial), led by spending on institutional building construction, up $117.2 million to $3.9 billion.

Provincially, increases were posted in five provinces in the fourth quarter, with Ontario reporting the largest increase, followed by British Columbia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

2017 in Review

Total investment in non-residential building construction in Canada increased 1.2 per cent in 2017 compared with 2016. Spending on both institutional building construction (+$380.0 million or +2.6 per cent) and industrial building construction (+$257.5 million or +3.5 per cent) were the drivers behind the total annual increase. Total investment in commercial construction was unchanged from 2016 to 2017.

The value of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities declined 7.7 per cent to $7.7 billion in November, the first decrease in three months. Nationally, the value of permits for all building components declined, with the exception of single-family dwellings.

Single-family Dwellings Hold Steady

The value of permits for single-family dwellings remained at $2.6 billion in November. After falling from a peak of $2.9 billion in October 2016, the value of permits for single-family dwellings remained steady at approximately $2.6 billion throughout 2017.