Statistics
Canada reported on Wednesday that the value of building permits issued by
Canadian municipalities declined by 4.1 per cent m-o-m in March, following an upwardly
revised 4.9 per cent m-o-m climb (from +2.9 per cent m-o-m) in February.
Economists had anticipated
a 0.5 per cent m-o-m drop in March from the previous month.
According to
the report, the value of residential building permits increased by 2.0 per cent
m-o-m in March, reflecting a 5.8 per cent m-o-m jump in permits for
multi-family dwellings that was partially
offset by a 5.3 per cent m-o-m tumble in single-family permits.
Meanwhile, the
value of non-residential permits plummeted by 14.5 per cent m-o-m in March, as
all three non-residential components - commercial (-19.0 per cent m-o-m), institutional
(-14.4 per cent m-o-m) and industrial (-0.5 per cent m-o-m) permits - dropped.
In y-o-y terms,
building permits soared 15.0 per cent in March.
In the first quarter of 2025, the total value of
building permits rose by 2.9 per cent q-o-q to CAD39.1 billion. This was the fifth
consecutive quarterly advance.