Jan 11, 2019Canadian municipalities issued $8.3 billion worth of building permits in November, up 2.6% from October. Higher construction intentions for commercial buildings drove most of the gain.
Non-residential sector: commercial permits drive the increase
The value of non-residential building permits rose 11.6% to $3.3 billion in November. Construction intentions rose in five provinces, with British Columbia accounting for most of the gain.
In the commercial component, the value of building permits was up 16.8% to $2.1 billion, the highest level since May 2007. The increase was led by higher construction intentions for office buildings in the census metropolitan areas (CMAs) of Vancouver and Québec.
Following three consecutive monthly declines, the value of industrial building permits rose 21.9% to $527 million in November. The increase was mainly attributable to permits for new agricultural buildings.
In the institutional component, the value of permits was down 7.2% to $682 million in November, with Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador reporting the largest decreases. The decline in the institutional component was largely attributable to fewer high value permits issued for nursing homes compared with the previous month.
Residential sector: single-family dwellings post the largest decline
In the residential sector, the value of building permits decreased 2.5% to $5.0 billion in November. There were declines in five provinces, most notably Ontario. Meanwhile, the largest gain was in Quebec.
The value of single-family permits fell 5.5% to $2.2 billion in November, after increasing 4.7% the previous month. Ontario reported the largest decline (-8.1% to $930 million)—the lowest reported value since January 2016.
In the multi-family dwelling component, municipalities issued $2.9 billion worth of building permits in November, edging down 0.1% from October. Ontario reported the largest decrease (-$232 million), which was largely offset by a $204 million gain in Quebec.
In November, municipalities approved the construction of 19,378 new dwellings (-3.1%), consisting of 4,725 single-family units (-7.0%) and 14,653 multi-family units (-1.8%).
Provinces and census metropolitan areas: British Columbia and Quebec register largest increases
The value of building permits increased in six provinces in November, led by British Columbia and Quebec. Meanwhile, the value of permits rose in 14 of the 36 CMAs, led by Montréal, Vancouver and Calgary.
In British Columbia, the value of permits rose 14.3% to $1.7 billion. The commercial component posted the highest value on record, driven by a $240 million permit for an office building in the CMA of Vancouver.
The value of building permits in Quebec was up 13.9% to $1.8 billion in November, following a decrease of 14.9% the previous month. The increase was largely the result of the issuance of high-value permits for large apartment buildings in the CMA of Montréal and a record high for commercial permits in the CMA of Québec.
In Alberta, the value of building permits increased 10.4% to $1.1 billion. The gain was largely driven by the CMA of Calgary (+$131 million), where every component, except for industrial buildings, reported an increase.
In contrast, the value of building permits in Ontario was down 10.3% to $3.0 billion, following an increase of 9.0% in October. The value of permits in the CMA of Toronto dropped 17.4% to $1.5 billion in November. The decrease in multi-family dwellings (-$225 million) was the main contributor to the decline. Despite the decrease in November, the year-to-date value in the Toronto CMA for multi-family permits ($6.8 billion) has surpassed the total value for 2017 by 20.2%.
Source: Statistics Canada
Nexans Webinar - Key 2021 Electrical Code Changes Impacting Wire and Cable
Join NEXANS for a free webinar with Isaac Müller, Applications Engineer for Nexans as he reviews and discusses the changes to the 2021 Canadian Electrical Code related to wire and cable. This free webinar will take place Wed, Jan 27, 2021 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST.
This webinar includes:
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Study: The Pandemic’s Impact on Corporate Solvency in Q3 2020
The year 2020 was filled with surprises. One of them was business solvency.
Insolvencies were down by almost one-third year over year during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and were relatively stable in the third quarter. At the height of this century’s previous economic shocks, insolvencies rose by 10% or more. A new study looks at insolvencies during the largest economic upheaval of our lifetime.
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My father asked me to lunch one day and told me he wanted very much to meet with someone in the electrical industry who meant a lot to him, and whose friendship he wanted to share with me. This lunch, in 1982, was with Doug Baldwin.
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We have all heard about and experienced the heartache of not spending time with and not celebrating milestones with our extended families, not being able to take those planned vacations, and having to deal with the stresses and challenges of virtual learning with our kids.
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Signify Canada has announced David Grinstead, Market Leader, Canada, Signify will retire at the end of the month. "We thank David for his contributions, passion and dedication to the company and industry," said the company via press release.
Martin Stephenson will take on the Market Leader, Canada role in addition to his current position as Head of North American Systems & Services at Signify. He reports to Kevin Poyck, Market Group Leader, Americas.
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Greg is the Senior Vice President Electrical at Bartle & Gibson, based in Edmonton, Alberta. He is now entering his 27th year in the Electrical Industry and he originally began his career working for another proud AD Member, McLoughlan Supplies Ltd in St, John’s NL. During his career, Greg has also worked for many key suppliers such as, Eaton, Thomas & Betts and Siemens.
Peers & Profiles
Ariane Cardinal Discusses her Journey to Stelpro, Mentorship, and Finding Success
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Ariane Cardinal is Director of Planning, Purchasing, and Distribution with Stelpro. Ariane owns a bachelor’s degree in Engineering, although she said, “I always knew, when I was doing engineering, that I wanted to have a career more oriented towards management.”
After earning her degree, she did an internship with a company in the gas industry based out of Paris, France, which is where she was introduced to supply chain management. Ariane noted she was interested in the problem-solving aspects of supply chain, which meshed well with her engineering background.