Building Permits | YTD: $1270.6 million (Jan-Oct)

[UrbanWaterloo]

Statistics Canada: January 2010
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quoti...00304a-eng.htm

Municipalities issued building permits worth $5.7 billion in January, a 4.9% decline from December. However, this value was still 32.7% higher than the level in January 2009. The decline between December and January was due to a substantial drop in building intentions in the non-residential sector.



In the non-residential sector, contractors took out permits worth $1.7 billion in January, a 21.0% decline from December. This was largely the result of a drop in the commercial component. January's non-residential level was down 25.1% from the same month in 2009.
In the residential sector, the value of permits rose 4.1% to $4.0 billion, almost twice the value registered in January 2009. An increase in the value of permits for single-family dwellings between December and January more than offset a decline in multi-family dwellings.
The total value of construction intentions fell in five provinces and two territories in January, led by Alberta and British Columbia.

Residential sector: Higher intentions for single-family permits
Increases in seven provinces pushed the value of permits for single-family in January to $2.7 billion, up 7.2% from December. The value of single-family permits has been on an upward trend since March 2009.
In January, Municipalities issued $1.3 billion worth of permits for multi-family dwellings, down 1.7% from December. This decline followed two consecutive monthly increases. British Columbia registered the largest decline, followed by Alberta.
Nationally, municipalities approved the construction of 18,685 new dwellings in January, up 1.7% from December. The increase was largely attributable to single-family dwellings, which rose 6.9% to 9,285 units. The number of multiple-family dwellings approved fell 2.9% to 9,400.



Non-residential sector: Declines in the commercial and institutional components
In the commercial component, municipalities issued permits worth $982 million in January, a 28.3% decline from December. This followed three consecutive monthly increases. January's decrease was largely due to lower construction intentions for office buildings and recreational buildings in Alberta.
The value of institutional building permits decreased 15.3% to $439 million, as a result of declines in seven provinces. The largest decreases were in building permits for day care facilities and nursing homes, mainly in Ontario, Alberta and New Brunswick.
In the industrial component, intentions rose 9.4% to $256 million after two monthly declines. Ontario led the four provinces that posted higher construction intentions.

Largest declines in Alberta and British Columbia
The total value of building permits decreased in five provinces.
The largest decreases were posted by Alberta (-28.5%) and British Columbia (-22.5%), after both recorded gains in December. In Alberta, the decline was a result of lower intentions for commercial buildings and multiple-family dwellings. In British Columbia, decreases came from both the residential and non-residential sectors.
Ontario posted the largest gain as a result of increases in both the residential and non-residential sectors. In Quebec, the increase came from the residential sector.

Value of permits down in more than half of all metropolitan areas
The total value of permits fell in 18 of the 34 census metropolitan areas.
The largest declines were in Calgary, Vancouver and Greater Sudbury. In Calgary, the decrease came mainly from the commercial component, following a large increase in December.
Building permits in Vancouver fell in every component except for single dwellings. In Greater Sudbury, the decline came after strong increases in December, when contractors took out substantial amounts of permits prior to fee increases that took effect in January 2010.
By contrast, the largest gains were in Toronto and Montréal. In Toronto, the increase was due to gains in all components except for institutional permits. In Montréal, the increase came from the residential sector.

The February building permit data will be released on April 7.

Table 3: Value of building permits, by census metropolitan area
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quoti...0304a3-eng.htm

[UrbanWaterloo]

Statistics Canada: February 2010
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quoti...00407a-eng.htm

The value of building permits edged down 0.5% to $5.7 billion in February and was 56.7% higher than in February 2009, when it was at its lowest level during the economic slowdown.



In February, increases in permits for commercial buildings and single-family dwellings failed to offset a significant decline in multiple-dwelling construction intentions.
Residential construction intentions fell 7.5% to $3.7 billion. A 52.5% drop in the value of multiple dwellings in Ontario was largely responsible for the decrease at the national level.
In the non-residential sector, municipalities issued permits worth $2.0 billion, a 16.0% advance following three consecutive months of declines. Permits for commercial buildings posted the largest gain in February.
At the provincial level, the value of building permits was up in six provinces, with Quebec and Alberta leading the way. Ontario, Nova Scotia, British Columbia and Manitoba posted declines in February.



Residential sector: Decline in multiple-dwelling intentions
The value of building permits for multi-family units declined 28.3% to $962 million in February. Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia posted the largest declines, while Alberta and New Brunswick were the only provinces to record advances in February.
The value of building permits for single-family dwellings rose 3.0% to $2.7 billion, its second straight monthly gain. The value of single-family permits has been on an upward trend over the past year and reached its highest point ever in February. Every province except British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Manitoba contributed to the increase in single-family construction intentions.
Municipalities approved the construction of 16,107 new dwellings in February, down 14.2%. The decrease was largely attributable to multi-family dwellings, which fell 27.1% to 6,962 units. While the value of single-family permits was up, the number of units approved declined 1.0% to 9,145.

Non-residential sector: Significant increase in the commercial component
The value of commercial building permits totalled $1.3 billion, up 27.0% from January. The increase was mainly due to construction intentions for hotels and office buildings in Ontario and Quebec. Alberta recorded an increase in permits for recreational buildings and retail stores.
In the industrial component, the value of building permits advanced 2.1% to $264 million. The increase was mainly a result of higher construction intentions in Alberta, Nova Scotia and British Columbia.
The value of institutional building permits edged down 0.4% to $440 million, after falling 14.9% in January. In February, Ontario and Alberta saw a decline in building projects for educational institutions, which were not offset by the increase in Quebec.

Ontario and Quebec at opposite extremes
The value of building permits was up in six provinces.
Quebec posted the largest gain, led by the non-residential sector. Alberta followed with increases in every residential-sector component and an advance in the non-residential sector.
In February, four provinces posted declines as a result of a drop in the value of residential-sector permits, despite growth in the non-residential sector. Ontario posted the steepest decline in February, primarily because of lower permits for multi-family units.

Metropolitan areas: Permit values down in more than half of the census metropolitan areas
The total value of permits was down in 19 of the 34 census metropolitan areas.
The largest declines were in Toronto and Montréal and were due to decreases in the residential sector. Kitchener followed with a decline due to the non-residential sector and multi-family units.
In contrast, the biggest gains were in Edmonton and Windsor, and were attributable to increases in both residential and non-residential sectors.

The March building permit data will be released on May 6.

Table 2: Value of building permits, by census metropolitan area
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quoti...0407a2-eng.htm

[panamaniac]

Table 2: Value of building permits, by census metropolitan area

Thanks for posting this UrbanWaterloo. The figures for Kitchener CMA are impressive when you compare them to places like Quebec City, Hamilton or Winnipeg.

[UrbanWaterloo]

Statistics Canada: March 2010
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quoti...00506a-eng.htm

Following four months of decline, the value of building permits increased 12.2% in March to $6.3 billion. This was 38.9% higher than the level in March 2009. The increase came mainly from multi-family and industrial building permits.



In the residential sector, construction intentions increased 13.9% to $4.2 billion, thanks to a substantial gain in permits for multi-family dwellings, particularly in Ontario and British Columbia.
In the non-residential sector, municipalities issued $2.1 billion worth of permits, up 9.1% from February. This increase occurred mainly as a result of higher construction intentions in the industrial and institutional components.
The total value of construction intentions rose in all provinces, except Quebec.

Residential sector: Higher intentions for multi-family permits
Municipalities issued $1.5 billion worth of multi-family permits in March, up 53.6% from February, its highest level since July 2008. Ontario and British Columbia accounted for most of the increase, although six other provinces showed higher intentions for the construction of multiple dwellings. In contrast, Quebec posted a large decline following an increase in February.
The Canada value of building permits for single-family dwellings remained unchanged at $2.7 billion. Provincially, increases in eight provinces offset declines in Alberta and Ontario. Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador posted the largest advances in single-family construction intentions.
Nationally, municipalities approved construction of 19,469 new dwelling units in March, up 21.1%. The gain was largely attributable to multi-family dwellings, which rose 46.0% to 10,038 units. This was the first time since July 2008 that the number of multiple units surpassed 10,000. The number of single-family dwellings approved increased 2.5% to 9,431 units.



Non-residential sector: Gains in industrial and institutional components
In the industrial component, the value of building permits advanced 56.9% to $423 million, the third consecutive monthly increase. Alberta and Ontario led six provinces that posted higher values. These gains mainly came from projects related to transportation buildings in this component.
In the institutional component, municipalities issued permits worth $523 million, up 18.1%. Ontario and Alberta posted increases as a result of higher values of building permits for government administration and religious purposes. In British Columbia, the increase originated from higher educational building projects.
The value of commercial building permits totalled $1.2 billion, down 4.5%. The decline was mainly due to construction intentions for hotels and office buildings in Ontario. However, the value of commercial permits increased in Saskatchewan and British Columbia, as a result of higher construction intentions for warehouses and office buildings.

Permits up in all provinces except Quebec
The value of building permits was up in March in all provinces except Quebec.
The most significant increases were in Ontario and British Columbia. In Ontario, the increase in the value of permits came mainly from multi-family dwellings. British Columbia's gain was due to both the residential and non-residential sectors.
Following a strong gain in February, Quebec registered the only decrease in March, mostly as a result of construction intentions for the multi-family and institutional permits.

Permits up in most census metropolitan areas
The total value of permits increased in 26 of the 34 census metropolitan areas.
The largest gains were in Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary. Vancouver posted increases in all types of buildings. In Toronto, the increase came mainly from multi-family permits. In Calgary, it was a result of all components of the non-residential sector.
The largest declines occurred in Edmonton and Windsor, the result of decreases in the residential and non-residential sectors.

The April building permit data will be released on June 4.

Table 2: Value of building permits, by census metropolitan area
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quoti...0506a2-eng.htm

[UrbanWaterloo]

Thanks for posting this UrbanWaterloo. The figures for Kitchener CMA are impressive when you compare them to places like Quebec City, Hamilton or Winnipeg.

A yearly BP total of $1-billion is a very nice figure for this region, yet we've already done half that business in the first quarter. I expect the other quarters will be slower, but still we're off to an amazing start for 2010! Our friends in Guelph are doing very well too.

Southern Ontario CMA 1Q2010 Building Permits ($millions)
Toronto | 3183.3
Kitchener | 567.6
Ottawa–Gatineau, Ontario/Quebec | 558.8
Hamilton | 303.8
London | 265.2
Oshawa | 221.1
Guelph | 127.6
St. Catharines–Niagara | 118.3
Windsor | 106.3
Peterborough | 42.7
Barrie | 41.4
Kingston | 36.2
Brantford | 34.6

[UrbanWaterloo]

April 2010
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quoti...00604b-eng.htm

The value of building permits rose 5.4% to $6.7 billion in April, following a 12.3% advance in March. Compared with April 2009, the value of building permits has increased by 48.2%. The gain in April was due to the non-residential sector, which more than offset the decline in the residential sector.



In the non-residential sector, the value of permits rose for a third consecutive month, up 32.2% to $2.8 billion. The increase was attributable to gains in both construction intentions for institutional buildings in six provinces and in commercial permits in seven provinces.
In the residential sector, the value of permits fell 8.0% from March to $3.9 billion, mostly because of declines in single- and multi-family permits in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec.
The total value of permits was up in five provinces, led by Ontario, Nova Scotia and Alberta, while British Columbia recorded the steepest decline.

Non-residential sector: Increases in both institutional and commercial components
The institutional component increased 70.0% to $882 million in April. The advance was largely a result of higher construction intentions for educational institutions in Ontario and medical buildings in Nova Scotia.
In the commercial componnt, the value of permits increased 29.1% to $1.5 billion. The advance was mostly attributable to construction intentions for office buildings and retail stores in Alberta and Ontario.
Following three consecutive monthly increases, the value of industrial building permits declined 4.7% to $415 million in April. Alberta posted the largest decrease while Ontario recorded the biggest gain.

Residential sector: Intentions down for single- and multi-family permits
The value of building permits for single-family dwellings decreased 6.0% in April to $2.6 billion, a result of declines in Quebec, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Following a strong gain in March, municipalities issued $1.3 billion in building permits for multi-family dwellings in April, down 11.7% from a month earlier. British Columbia was by far the province with the largest decrease in the value of multi-family permits, followed by Ontario and Quebec.
Municipalities approved the construction of 18,089 new dwellings in April, down 7.3% from March. The decrease was due to an 8.2% decline in the number of multi-family dwellings to 9,237 and a 6.4% decline in the number of single-family dwellings to 8,852.



Increases seen in half the provinces
In April, the value of building permits was up in five provinces.
Ontario, Nova Scotia and Alberta posted the largest advances. In Ontario, increases in all non-residential components more than offset the decline in residential components. Nova Scotia's gain was attributable to both the institutional component and multi-family permits. In Alberta, the increase came from both the residential and non-residential sectors.
British Columbia and Quebec posted the sharpest decreases. Following a strong advance in March, British Columbia showed the biggest drop in the residential and non-residential sectors. The lower value of permits in Quebec was due to the residential sector.

Increases in half the census metropolitan areas
The total value of permits was up in 17 of the 34 census metropolitan areas.
In Edmonton, the value of permits doubled as a result of gains in all residential and non-residential components. The value of permits rose in Toronto and in Windsor, mainly because of increases in all of the non-residential sector's components.
In contrast, Vancouver and Calgary posted the largest declines. Vancouver's decrease was due to permits for multi-family dwellings and permits for institutional buildings. The decline in Calgary was attributable to all components in the non-residential sector.

The May building permit data will be released on July 6.

Table 2: Value of building permits, by census metropolitan area
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quoti...0604b2-eng.htm

[UrbanWaterloo]

May 2010
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quoti...00706a-eng.htm

Municipalities issued building permits worth $6.0 billion in May, a 10.8% decline from April. The decline follows two consecutive monthly increases. The value of permits in May was 13.9% higher than the level in May 2009.



Decreases occurred in both the residential and non-residential sectors. The value of residential permits fell 5.3% to $3.7 billion due to a decline in the single-family component.
After three months of increases, the value of non-residential permits fell 18.3% to $2.3 billion. The value of commercial and institutional permits decreased, while the value of industrial permits rose to its highest level since September 2008.
The value of permits increased in three provinces: British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island.

Non-residential sector: Declines in the commercial and institutional components
In the commercial component, the value of permits fell 35.2% to $988 million in May following a 30.7% increase in April. Lower construction intentions were spread across a wide variety of buildings, such as office buildings, recreational, hotels and warehouses. Commercial building intentions fell in eight provinces.
The value of permits in the institutional component fell 21.6% to $690 million, halting three consecutive monthly increases. Lower construction intentions in educational, medical buildings and welfare homes contributed to this decline.
In the industrial component, the value of permits rose 47.1% to $644 million, the fifth monthly increase in a row. The gains came mostly from utility buildings in Ontario and manufacturing buildings in Quebec. Industrial construction intentions rose in eight provinces.

Residential sector: Intentions down for single-family permits
A marked decline in the value of permits for single dwellings brought down intentions in the residential sector in May.
Municipalities issued $2.3 billion worth of permits for single-family dwellings in May, down 9.2% from April. This was the second consecutive monthly decline following gains in the first three months of 2010. May's decrease was due to lower construction intentions in seven provinces.
Following an 11.4% decline in April, the value of permits for multi-family dwellings increased 2.5% to $1.3 billion in May. This increase was mainly the result of higher construction intentions in Quebec, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
Nationally, municipalities approved 17,124 new dwellings in May, down 4.4% from April. The decline was largely attribuable to single-family dwellings, which fell 6.5% to 8,168 units. The number of multi-family units approved declined 2.4% to 8,956.



Largest declines in Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia
The value of building permits fell in seven provinces in May.
The largest decreases occurred in Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia. In all three provinces, the decline was the result of lower intentions in the non-residential sector, which had posted strong gains in April.
British Columbia and Saskatchewan posted the largest gains in May, mainly the result of increases in institutional and multi-family permits. In Prince Edward Island, the increase came from the residential sector and the institutional component in the non-residential sector.

Value of permits down in more than half of the census metropolitan areas
The total value of permits fell in 18 of the 34 census metropolitan areas in May.
The largest declines were in Edmonton, Calgary and Windsor. In Edmonton, the decrease came mainly from the commercial component following a large increase in April. Calgary posted a decrease mainly in the single-family and the commercial component. In Windsor, the decline was attributable to all components in the non-residential sector.
The largest gains occurred in Montréal, Vancouver and St. Catharines–Niagara. In Montréal, the increase came mostly from multi-family and industrial permits. In Vancouver and St. Catharines–Niagara, the increase was due mainly to higher construction intentions in the non-residential institutional component.

Building permit data for June will be released on August 5.

Table 3: Value of building permits, by census metropolitan area
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quoti...0706a3-eng.htm

[UrbanWaterloo]

I know I'm a bit of an optimist on our region's long-term economic prospects, even still I find it hard to believe just how well we're doing this year.

• All of the first five months have been 9-digits, in fact the last 7 months have all been above $100-million -- that's probably a record string of data.
• In the last 12 months we've issued $1.535 billion of building permits -- this is also likely a record high for the area. This is indicated by the red line on the chart.

Let's also state Building Permits are a leading indicator of an area's economy, that's because they're issued before construction begins. The high level of permits we're seeing now should keep our local economy buzzing for the next year or two.

I'm also in the process of charting all the local statistics. In Chrome & Firefox the data selection works fine, but IE seems to treat it as a static chart (browser compatibility is an ongoing issue for a number of things).

[BP]data[/BP]

[UrbanWaterloo]

With another $217-million in June, this metropolitan area has issued over $1-billion in building permits already this year! That's never been done before!

June 2010
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quoti...00805a-eng.htm

The value of building permits totalled $6.6 billion in June, up 6.5% from May and a 24.9% increase from June 2009. The gain in June was due to the non-residential sector, which more than offset the decline in the residential sector.

In the non-residential sector, the value of permits increased 23.5% from May to $3.0 billion in June. This increase was largely attributable to higher commercial and institutional construction intentions in Ontario and higher commercial construction intentions in Alberta.
In the residential sector, the value of permits fell 4.5% from May to $3.6 billion in June, as a result of a drop in single-family housing permits. This was the third consecutive monthly decrease.
The total value of permits was up in six provinces, led by Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador and British Columbia. Saskatchewan posted the largest decrease.

Non-residential sector: Increases in both institutional and commercial components
In the commercial component, municipalities issued $1.5 billion worth of permits in June, up 39.0% from May. The increase was primarily due to higher construction intentions for hotels, restaurants and conference centres in Ontario and for recreational facilities in Alberta.
The institutional component increased 41.7% from May to $966 million in June. The increase was largely due to higher construction intentions for educational institutions in Ontario.
After five consecutive monthly increases, the value of industrial building permits fell 18.0% from May to $566 million in June. Ontario had the largest decrease, while Newfoundland and Labrador posted the biggest gain.

Residential sector: Lower intentions for single-family dwellings
The value of building permits for single-family units declined for the third consecutive month, falling 8.3% from May to $2.2 billion in June. The decline in June was a result of decreases in every province except Newfoundland and Labrador.
Municipalities issued $1.4 billion worth of building permits for multi-family dwellings in June, 2.0% more than in May and a second consecutive monthly increase. British Columbia was by far the province with the largest gain in the value of multi-family permits, offsetting declines in six provinces.
Municipalities approved the construction of 17,729 new dwellings in June, up 2.0% from May. This was due to a 12.1% increase in the number of multi-family dwellings to 10,216, despite a 9.2% drop in the number of single-family dwellings to 7,513.

Increases in six provinces
In June, the value of building permits was up in six provinces.
Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador and British Columbia posted the largest advances. The increase in Alberta was attributable to all components in the non-residential sector. In Newfoundland and Labrador, the value of permits tripled relative to May as a result of increases in every component except institutional buildings. In British Columbia, the gain was due to the commercial and industrial components, and permits for multi-family dwellings.
Saskatchewan had the largest drop with decreases in every component. Ontario posted a small decline as a result of increases in the institutional and commercial components, which did not entirely offset decreases in the other components.

Increases in the census metropolitan areas
The total value of permits rose in 15 of the 34 census metropolitan areas.
In Kitchener, the value of permits doubled as a result of gains in all non-residential components and in multi-family dwellings. The value of permits was up in Edmonton and Ottawa because of increases in the three components of the non-residential sector. The value of permits in St. John's was pushed upward by all components except institutional or government buildings.
In contrast, Toronto and St. Catharines–Niagara posted the largest declines. In Toronto, the decrease was attributable to the residential sector and permits for industrial buildings. The decrease in St. Catharines–Niagara stemmed from every component in the non-residential sector.

Table 3: Value of building permits, by census metropolitan area
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quoti...0805a3-eng.htm

[UrbanWaterloo]

Here are some end of quarter comparisons. Often the month-to-month data can swing wildly due to when a major project is finally approved. Taking the longer-term view, it's great to see just how well this area's doing. We did slip to 3rd place year-to-date (down from 2nd place in the 1Q), but that's to be expected given the much larger population and economy of Ottawa-Gatineau. Not too long ago (1991) we used to be the 6th largest metro in Ontario. If this trend continues, we're going to challenge for 3rd place in my lifetime.

Southern Ontario CMA 2Q2010 Building Permits ($millions)
Toronto | 3425
Ottawa–Gatineau, Ontario/Quebec | 668.1
Kitchener | 473
Hamilton | 421
London | 251.6
St. Catharines–Niagara | 239
Oshawa | 217.5
Windsor | 206.9
Barrie | 117.7
Guelph | 73.6
Kingston | 57
Brantford | 46.5
Peterborough | 41.6

Southern Ontario CMA First Half 2010 Building Permits ($millions)
Toronto | 6608.3
Ottawa–Gatineau, Ontario/Quebec | 1246.9
Kitchener | 1040.6
Hamilton | 724.8
London | 516.8
Oshawa | 438.6
St. Catharines–Niagara | 357.3
Windsor | 313.2
Guelph | 201.2
Barrie | 159.1
Kingston | 93.2
Peterborough | 84.3
Brantford | 81.1

[KayDubya]

Wow! Those numbers are great. You really get a sense of just how great things are going when you compare Kitchener's 1 billion+ in permits to London 500 million+. Two cities of relatively equal size yet we've issued building permits worth double the amount over the first half of the year.

[Spokes]

Yes very impressive, and to be relatively close to Ottawa's numbers.

[garthdanlor]

Does anyone know what portion of this 1 billion+ is for the new courthouse? I skimmed the courthouse thread and can see the long term costs are over $750 million but what is its permit value (I probably just missed this amount)?

[UrbanWaterloo]

The City of Kitchener is only showing a $10,562,000 permit issued June 20, 2010 for the Courthouse. There's been an application for the shell, but it hasn't been issued yet.

Here's Statistics Canada's breakdown. The total is slightly different as this is the unadjusted data, whereas the figure we're tracking above is seasonally adjusted data.

Residential | $309,496,000 (10th Highest in Canada)
Industrial | $98,672,000 (4th Highest in Canada)
Commercial | $304,951,000 (7th Highest in Canada)
Institutional and Governmental | $297,750,000 (2nd Highest in Canada)
Total | $1,010,869,000 (7th Highest in Canada)

We're really punching above our weight in the Institutional and Governmental component, although I don't expect us to hold onto the 2nd place ranking as the rest of the year fills in. Just take a look around the city and the boom is obvious: UW Environment 3, UW Math 3, UW Engineering VI, Conestoga College: Cambridge Campus Expansion, Conestoga College F Wing, Waterloo Region Consolidated Courthouse, Balsillie School of International Affairs, etc...

Table 12: Value of residential and non-residential building permits, census metropolitan areas, unadjusted, cumulative, January to June 2010

[UrbanWaterloo]

July 2010

Municipalities issued building permits worth $6.4 billion in July, down 3.3% from June but 33.0% higher than the level in July 2009. The decrease in July was a result of declines in both the residential and non-residential sectors.

In the non-residential sector, municipalities issued building permits worth $2.9 billion in July, down 4.3% from June, as a result of lower construction intentions for industrial and commercial buildings.
The value of residential permits declined for a fourth consecutive month, down 2.4% to $3.5 billion in July. However, the value of residential permits was 28.6% higher than in July 2009. The value of both single- and multi-family permits declined in six provinces in July.
The total value of building intentions increased in four provinces: Ontario, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Manitoba.

Residential sector: Intentions down for single- and multiple-family permits
The value of building permits for single-family dwellings declined for a fourth consecutive month, down 0.9% to $2.1 billion in July. The decrease was a result of lower construction intentions in eight provinces, despite a 10.0% increase in Ontario.
Intentions for multi-family dwellings fell 4.6% to $1.4 billion, following two monthly increases. In July, six provinces posted declines, led by British Columbia and Quebec. However, Ontario and Alberta registered higher construction intentions in the multi-family component.
Nationally, municipalities approved 17,099 new dwellings in July, down 4.6% from June. The decline came from both single-family dwellings, which fell 0.8% to 7,452 units, and multi-family dwellings, which declined 7.3% to 9,647.

Non-residential sector: Declines in the industrial and commercial components
In the industrial component, the value of permits fell 28.2% to $406 million in July, a second consecutive monthly decrease. Lower intentions came mostly from Newfoundland and Labrador, which had posted a large gain in June. Quebec and Alberta also reported declines in July, as a result of lower construction intentions spread across a wide variety of buildings.
In the commercial component, municipalities issued permits worth $1.3 billion in July, down 9.2% from June. July's decrease was mainly a result of lower construction intentions spread across a wide variety of commercial buildings in Ontario and Alberta.
The value of permits in the institutional component increased for a second consecutive month, up 16.8% to $1.1 billion in July. The increase was largely a result of higher construction intentions for medical facilities in Ontario and British Columbia. The gain in Quebec came mainly from educational institutions.

Largest declines in Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador
The value of building permits fell in six provinces.
The largest decreases occurred in Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador. In both provinces, the decline was mainly the result of lower intentions in the industrial and commercial components. In Quebec, the decrease came from the residential sector and from the industrial component of the non-residential sector.
Ontario and Saskatchewan posted the largest gains. In Ontario, all components except the commercial increased in July. In Saskatchewan, the increase came from the non-residential sector.

Value of permits down in half of the census metropolitan areas
The total value of permits fell in 17 of the 34 census metropolitan areas.
The largest declines were in Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo, Edmonton and Ottawa. In Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo, the decrease came from all components except single dwellings.
Edmonton experienced a decrease as a result of the commercial and industrial components. In Ottawa, the decline was attributable to all components except permits for institutional buildings.
The largest gains occurred in St. Catharines–Niagara, Hamilton and Toronto. In St. Catharines–Niagara, the increase came from the institutional component, including a new medical facility. Toronto posted gains in the residential sector, while Hamilton's increases were in both sectors.

The August building permit data will be released on October 7.

Table 2: Value of Building Permits, by Census Metropolitan Area r revised | p preliminary

	July 2009	May 2010	June 2010r	July 2010p	June to July 2010	July 2009 to July 2010
	Seasonally adjusted
	$ millions				% change
Total	3,285.4	4,572.9	4,728.2	4,802.1	1.6	46.2
St. John's	50.0	40.5	116.2	43.5	-62.5	-13.0
Halifax	63.8	56.3	68.7	64.1	-6.8	0.5
Moncton	29.5	42.4	15.9	31.0	94.9	5.2
Saint John	27.2	11.3	11.1	12.6	13.7	-53.6
Saguenay	31.4	37.3	34.2	24.5	-28.4	-21.9
Québec	131.1	142.2	164.3	118.4	-28.0	-9.7
Sherbrooke	49.0	36.3	32.9	62.2	89.3	26.9
Trois-Rivières	26.5	34.6	31.7	56.1	76.9	111.6
Montréal	556.7	617.4	624.4	641.6	2.8	15.3
Ottawa–Gatineau, Ontario/Quebec	191.9	190.9	282.7	198.5	-29.8	3.5
Gatineau part	31.2	41.7	46.7	45.4	-2.7	45.8
Ottawa part	160.8	149.2	236.0	153.1	-35.1	-4.8
Kingston	14.1	28.7	13.4	14.9	11.3	5.8
Peterborough	13.1	18.4	10.7	9.2	-14.2	-29.7
Oshawa	35.9	39.4	105.6	74.6	-29.4	108.0
Toronto	416.2	1,177.0	998.7	1,049.3	5.1	152.1
Hamilton	116.2	171.6	81.5	134.5	65.1	15.8
St. Catharines–Niagara	25.0	149.8	37.1	446.4	1,103.5	1,683.2
Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo	88.0	105.5	217.4	96.4	-55.7	9.6
Brantford	27.0	10.4	28.5	29.3	2.8	8.4
Guelph	30.2	14.8	28.7	10.5	-63.3	-65.1
London	68.1	83.0	70.6	101.6	43.9	49.3
Windsor	14.1	15.6	77.2	36.1	-53.3	155.8
Barrie	12.9	24.5	53.6	17.3	-67.7	34.8
Greater Sudbury	19.8	24.8	13.3	49.1	269.9	147.8
Thunder Bay	10.1	21.9	20.1	11.2	-44.2	10.8
Winnipeg	106.6	86.4	90.1	92.7	2.9	-13.0
Regina	41.7	73.2	36.0	28.1	-22.0	-32.5
Saskatoon	75.9	98.4	51.4	79.9	55.4	5.3
Calgary	275.1	314.8	372.6	292.8	-21.4	6.4
Edmonton	303.4	347.1	453.7	367.0	-19.1	21.0
Kelowna	30.3	29.7	26.2	40.5	54.6	33.8
Abbotsford–Mission	9.4	20.2	10.0	12.3	22.9	30.6
Vancouver	352.1	444.9	491.5	497.4	1.2	41.3
Victoria	43.2	63.4	58.1	58.0	0.0	34.3

[metropolis]

With the groundbreaking at BarrelYards in June this was always going to be a huge month to month drop!

[Spokes]

You're rigth metropolis. Not to mention, month to month is far too small of a sample size. The year to year comparison is far better.

[garthdanlor]

That's a pretty serious increase in St Catherines-Niagara. Anyone know what's going on there?

[UrbanWaterloo]

That monthly St Catherines-Niagara number is unreal.

Their breakdown is as follows:

Type Residential Industrial Commercial Institutional and Governmental Total

Thousands of Dollars 17,218 2,924 17,020 410,494 447,656

It's due to their new $759 million hospital under construction.