Building permits, January 2020
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Released: 2020-03-09
$9.2 billion
January 2020
4.0% 
(monthly change)
$76.9 million
January 2020
57.6%
(monthly change)
$22.3 million
January 2020
-8.5% 
(monthly change)
$132.7 million
January 2020
15.9%
(monthly change)
$63.3 million
January 2020
-30.3%
(monthly change)
$1,866.9 million
January 2020
-16.4%
(monthly change)
$3,433.5 million
January 2020
-4.5%
(monthly change)
$270.9 million
January 2020
23.6%
(monthly change)
$133.7 million
January 2020
28.2%
(monthly change)
$1,035.3 million
January 2020
2.4%
(monthly change)
$2,190.7 million
January 2020
52.1%
(monthly change)
$17.9 million
January 2020
453.9%
(monthly change)
$1.2 million
January 2020
-64.0%
(monthly change)
F
January 2020
F
(monthly change)
The total value of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities increased 4.0% to $9.2 billion in January. Increases were reported in six provinces, led by British Columbia (+52.1% to $2.2 billion).
For more information on housing, please visit the Housing Statistics Portal.
Chart 1
Total value of building permits
Chart 2
Value of building permits for the residential and non-residential sectors
Infographic 1
Building permits, January 2020
Change in Vancouver's development costs drives growth in British Columbia and nationally
The majority of January's national increase in the value of building permits was in British Columbia (+$751 million), largely due to the census metropolitan area (CMA) of Vancouver. The value of permits increased in the CMA of Vancouver by 81.8%, prior to increases in development fees, which came into effect on January 15. Meanwhile, Quebec (-$366 million) and Ontario (-$161 million) reported the largest provincial declines after strong activity in December 2019.
Chart 3
Month-to-month change in the value of residential building permits
Value of residential permits up for multi- and single-family dwellings
The residential sector reported strong gains in January, increasing 12.7% from December 2019 to $5.8 billion. Permits for multi-family dwellings were up 17.1% to $3.4 billion in January, largely due to multiple projects in the CMA of Vancouver.
The total value of permits for single-family dwellings increased 7.0% to $2.4 billion, mainly due to housing developments in Ontario (+$105 million) and Quebec (+$48 million). The CMA of Brantford reported the largest increase in the value of permits for single-family dwellings (+340.9% to $41 million), a record high for the CMA.
Chart 4
Month-to-month change in the value of non-residential building permits
Non-residential sector down due to institutional permits
The value of non-residential permits was down 7.8% to $3.5 billion in January. This decrease was largely due to a decline in the total value of institutional permits (-30.5% to $732 million) following strong gains in December 2019.
Despite increases in seven provinces, the value of commercial permits decreased 0.8% to $2.1 billion, with Quebec reporting the largest decline (-$249 million).
The value of industrial permits offset some of the non-residential decline, rising 6.8% to $682 million, led by Ontario (+$90 million).
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 February will be released on April 8.
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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