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Building permits, November 2019

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Released: 2020-01-09

Building permits — Canada

$8.1 billion

November 2019

-2.4% decrease

(monthly change)

Building permits — N.L.

$56.9 million

November 2019

6.0% increase

(monthly change)

Building permits — P.E.I.

$33.4 million

November 2019

-30.8% decrease

(monthly change)

Building permits — N.S.

$133.1 million

November 2019

-22.6% decrease

(monthly change)

Building permits — N.B.

$75.1 million

November 2019

-7.1% decrease

(monthly change)

Building permits — Que.

$1,874.4 million

November 2019

10.3% increase

(monthly change)

Building permits — Ont.

$3,157.5 million

November 2019

-5.7% decrease

(monthly change)

Building permits — Man.

$292.2 million

November 2019

-33.2% decrease

(monthly change)

Building permits — Sask.

$122.4 million

November 2019

-10.8% decrease

(monthly change)

Building permits — Alta.

$1,003.8 million

November 2019

3.4% increase

(monthly change)

Building permits — B.C.

$1,297.2 million

November 2019

1.0% increase

(monthly change)

Building permits — Y.T.

$3.9 million

November 2019

-88.1% decrease

(monthly change)

Building permits — N.W.T.

$5.7 million

November 2019

26.9% increase

(monthly change)

Building permits — Nvt.

$16.0 million

November 2019

3,100.0% increase

(monthly change)

The total value of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities decreased 2.4% to $8.1 billion in November. Declines were reported in six provinces, with the largest decrease in Ontario (-5.7% to $3.2 billion). Quebec (+10.3% to $1.9 billion) offset some of this decline.

For more information on housing, please visit the Housing Statistics Portal.

Chart 1  Chart 1: Total value of building permits
Total value of building permits

Chart 2  Chart 2: Value of building permits for the residential and non-residential sectors
Value of building permits for the residential and non-residential sectors

Infographic 1  Thumbnail for Infographic 1: Building permits, November 2019
Building permits, November 2019

Residential permits down

Not including Prince Edward Island, permits for multi-family dwellings were down in all provinces, decreasing 11.3% to $2.5 billion.

The total value of permits for single family dwellings offset some of this decline, rising 5.6% to $2.3 billion, led by Ontario (+$78 million) and British Columbia (+$41 million).

Chart 3  Chart 3: Month-to-month change in the value of residential building permits
Month-to-month change in the value of residential building permits

Increase in industrial and institutional permits

Non-residential permits were largely unchanged in November (-0.1%), however there was notable movement within the components.

The value of industrial permits rose 24.5% to $753 million. The majority of this gain was attributable to a high value permit for an organic waste management facility in Québec City.

Meanwhile, the value of institutional permits rose 14.5% to $894 million, largely due to gains in the province of Quebec (+$209 million) resulting from building intentions for healthcare and educational facilities.

A decline in commercial permits (-13.5% to $1.7 billion) offset the gains noted above.

Chart 4  Chart 4: Month-to-month change in the value of non-residential building permits
Month-to-month change in the value of non-residential building permits

Nunavut permits increase

The total value of permits issued in Nunavut jumped from $500,000 in October to $16 million in November. The increase was largely due to a mixed-use residential and commercial project in Iqaluit. This was the largest increase in the value of residential permits in Nunavut since December 2018.




  Note to readers

Unless otherwise stated, this release presents seasonally adjusted data, which facilitate month-to-month comparisons by removing the effects of seasonal variations. For information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.

The Building Permits Survey covers over 2,400 municipalities, representing 95% of the Canadian population. The communities representing the other 5% of the population are very small, and their levels of building activity have little impact on the total for the entire population.

Building permit data are used as a leading indicator of activity in the construction industry.

The value of planned construction activities presented in this release excludes engineering projects (such as waterworks, sewers or culverts) and land.

For the purposes of this release, the census metropolitan area of Ottawa–Gatineau (Ontario and Quebec) is divided into two areas: the Ottawa part and the Gatineau part.

Unless otherwise specified, the highlights refer to seasonally adjusted current dollars and are ranked in terms of dollar change rather than percentage change.

Building components

Single-family dwellings: Residential buildings containing only one dwelling unit (for example, single-detached house, bungalow, linked home [linked at the foundation]).

Multi-family dwellings: Residential buildings containing multiple dwelling units (for example, apartment, apartment condominium, row house, semi-detached).

Industrial buildings: Buildings used in the processing or production of goods, or related to transportation and communication.

Commercial buildings: Buildings used in the trade or distribution of goods and services.

Institutional and government buildings: Buildings used to house public and semi-public services, such as those related to health and welfare, education, or public administration, as well as buildings used for religious services.

Revision

Unadjusted data for the current reference month are subject to revision based on late responses. Data for the previous month have been revised. Seasonally adjusted data for the previous two months have also been revised.

Trend-cycle estimates have been added to the charts as a complement to the seasonally adjusted series. Both seasonally adjusted data and trend-cycle estimates are subject to revision as additional observations become available. These revisions could be large and could even lead to a reversal of movement, especially at the end of the series. The higher variability associated with trend-cycle estimates is indicated with a dotted line on the chart.

For information on trend-cycle data, see the StatCan Blog and Trend-cycle estimates – Frequently asked questions.

Next release

Data on building permits for December 2019 will be released on February 10, 2020.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).

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