Municipalities issued $7.7 billion worth of building permits in June, up 14.8% from May but 3.8% lower than in June 2014. Five provinces reported an increase in permits over a year ago. New Brunswick recorded a 62.2% year-over-year gain while British Columbia posted a 35.2% increase. The largest annualized losses occurred in Quebec (-36.2%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (-34.3%). Ontario’s gain from June 2014 was 7.3%.
Builders took out residential building permits worth $4.6 billion in June, up 15.9% from May and 8.1% higher than in June 2014. Seven provinces reported an annualized growth rate for residential permits: British Columbia led the way (+42.5) followed by Nova Scotia (+28.4%) and Quebec (+21.3%). Ontario’s year-over-year gain was 1.3% . The only double-digit annualized decrease occurred in Saskatchewan (-11.7%). Alberta and Newfoundland also experienced a downturn.
Municipalities issued permits worth $2.2 billion for multi-family dwellings in June, up 36.9% from May and 22.0% higher than in June 2014. Higher construction intentions for apartment and apartment-condominium projects in Quebec, Alberta and Ontario were mainly responsible. Permits for single-family units amounted to $2.4 billion, up 1.6% from May, but 2.3% lower than in June 2014. Monthly advances were posted in eight provinces, with New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario recording the largest gains.
Municipalities approved 17,609 new dwellings in June, up 13.7% from May and 5.7% higher than in June 2014. There was a 2.2% monthly increase but a 10.1% annualized loss in the number of single-family units, which totaled 5,824. There was a 20.3% monthly gain and a 15.7% annualized inrease in the number of multi-family units approved, which totaled 11,785.
The value of non-residential permits in June rose 13.2% from May to $3.2 billion but decreased 17.0% from June 2014. From May to June, industrial permits grew 29.1% to $535 million but were down 28.0% from June 2014; institutional permits increased 30.9% from May to $1.1 billion but were down 14.4% from a year earlier; while commercial sector permits fell 1.3% from May to $1.5 billion, and were down 14.3% from June 2014. The institutional gain came mainly from increased construction intentions in six provinces, with Alberta accounting for most of the monthly increase. The monthly industrial increase mainly resulted from higher construction intentions for utilities and transportation-related buildings in six provinces, led by Quebec and Ontario. Quebec, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick reported the largest slowdowns in commercial construction, while British Columbia recorded the highest.