Developers in Vancouver and Toronto led the way in construction intentions in March as building permit values reached $6.9 billion across Canada, according to data released Thursday (May 7) from Statistics Canada.
Building permit values in Vancouver reached $979 million in March, soaring 59.5% compared with the month before.
The only city in Canada to outpace Vancouver was Toronto, where building permit values reached $1.4 billion after growing 35.1% between February and March.
“The gain in Vancouver occurred mostly as a result of higher construction intentions for multiple dwellings and commercial buildings,” Statistics Canada said, adding most of the gains in Toronto came as a result from more interest in multi-family residential structures.
“Every building construction component increased in British Columbia, with multi-family dwellings, commercial and institutional buildings accounting for most of the gain.”
Building permit values for the West Coast province totalled $1.4 billion in March, rising 52.6% from February and 63.5% year-over-year.
This was led by residential building permit values, which grew 28.7% month-over-month to $920.5 million. Non-residential building permit values rose 140% to $471 million.
All the other census metropolitan areas in B.C. measured by Statistics Canada posted significant gains month-over-month.
Building permit values rose 152.9% to $62.4 million in Kelowna, 52.1% to $18.2 million in Abbotsford-Mission and 31.8% to 72 million in Victoria.
