Canada, British Columbia and Vancouver all saw the value of building permits increase in January, Statistics Canada announced March 6.
Building permits were $627 million in the city, up almost 31% compared with December and 20% year-over-year. Close to three-quarters of these permits related to residential buildings, while 17% were commercial. The balance was made up of industrial (3%) and institutional/government (5%).
The dollar value of permits across B.C. was $918 million. Both residential ($680 million) and non-residential ($238 million) were up from December and compared with one year ago. Seventy-four per cent of permits in the province were residential.
Across the country, building permits rose 8.5% to $7 billion, after a 4.8% drop in December. This was made up of a 26% increase in residential permits, partially offset by a 14.6% dip in non-residential. Total construction intentions in Canada were up 21.9% year-over-year.
The provinces with biggest jumps in permits from December to January were:
- Manitoba – up 49.2%;
- New Brunswick – up 49%;
- Nova Scotia – up 48.2%; and
- Saskatchewan – up 38.9%.
Quebec was the only province that saw a drop in construction intentions (down 22.6%).
