Value of Canadian building permits falls 5.8 per cent in March

Theglobeandmail.com
May 9, 2017
By The Canadian Press

Statistics Canada says the value of building permits issued by municipalities fell in March for the second consecutive month, due in large part to a drop in plans for apartment buildings, particularly in B.C. and Ontario.

The agency says the value of building permits dropped 5.8 per cent to $7.0-billion in March.

Economists had expected an increase of 5.5 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters.

The value of building permits issued for residential buildings fell 8.4 per cent to $4.6-billion in March as a drop in multi-family homes more than offset an increase in plans for single-family dwellings.

The value of building permits for multi-family dwellings fell 20.9 per cent to $1.9-billion in March, due to a drop in apartment buildings and to a lesser extent, row houses. Plans for single-family homes rose 3.0 per cent to $2.7-billion in March.

The value of building permits for non-residential structures fell 0.5 per cent to $2.4-billion in March.