Canadian municipalities issued building permits worth $6.1 billion in February, down 11.6 per cent from January, said Statistics Canada Tuesday. This decrease followed an 8.1 per cent gain the previous month and was mainly driven by lower construction intentions for multi-family dwellings in all provinces.
Construction intentions for residential buildings declined 21.0% to $3.6 billion, following a 26.1% increase the previous month. This was the third decline in four months. Lower residential construction intentions were recorded in every province, except Prince Edward Island. Alberta, Quebec and British Columbia registered the largest decreases.
In the non-residential sector, the value of building permits rose 6.6 per cent to $2.5 billion in February, following a 15.4 per cent decrease the previous month. Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec were responsible for most of the growth at the national level.