Residential Construction Down for Eight Provinces in April, Non-Residential Down after Record March

July 3, 2023

The total monthly value of residential construction permits in Canada are down 18.8% to $9.6 billion in April, the lowest level since December 2020.

On a constant dollar basis (2012=100), the total value of building permits fell 18.5% to $5.6 billion in April 2023.

Non-residential permits down following the strongest month on record

Following a record high in March, the total monthly value of non-residential permits fell 34.6% to $3.4 billion in April. The drop was observed across all components but was most pronounced in commercial (-40.2% or – $1.1 billion) and industrial (-49.6% or -$663.8 million) construction intentions.

On a seasonally unadjusted basis, the average commercial permit was valued at $433,000 in April compared with $901,000 in March. Similarly, the average industrial permit was valued at $413,000 in April compared with $1.7 million in March. The significantly lower average permit values show that the monthly declines in April are attributed to exceptionally high volumes of large-scale projects in March.

Residential construction intentions down for eight provinces

The total monthly value of residential permits declined 6.1% to $6.1 billion, sliding for the second consecutive month. Declines were posted for both the single-family and multi-dwelling components.

Ontario (down 10.5% or -$296.4 million) greatly contributed to the monthly decrease in the residential sector.

British Columbia (up 2.6% or +$35.1 million) and Saskatchewan (up 45.0% or +$15.2 million) were the two provinces to post monthly growth in residential construction intentions.

Value of building permits for the single-family and multi-family components

To explore data using an interactive user interface, visit the Building permits: Interactive Dashboard.

For more information on construction, please visit the Construction statistics portal.

For more information on housing, please visit the Housing statistics portal.

Statistics Canada has a Housing Market Indicators dashboard. This web application provides access to key housing market indicators for Canada, by province and by census metropolitan area. The indicators are updated automatically with new information from monthly releases, giving users access to the latest data.

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