Canadian building permits fall unexpectedly

Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, April 07, 2008

OTTAWA - Canadian building permits declined unexpectedly in February for a fourth consecutive month, led by a sharp drop in non-residential construction plans in Ontario, Statistics Canada said Monday. 

Municipalities issued $5.8 billion worth of building permits in February, down one per cent from the previous month, the federal agency said.

The value of non-residential permits fell 25.6 per cent to $1.9 billion - the lowest level in more than a year - due to declines in institutional, commercial and industrial sectors, it said.

"These results could have an impact on building sites later in 2008 as building permits are a leading indicator for construction activity."
 
In the residential sector, building permit values were up 18.2 per cent to $3.9 billion, with multi- and single-family permits accounting for much of the gain in February.

"Nationally, a marked increase in residential intentions was not enough to offset a decline in intentions in the non-residential sector," Statistics Canada said. 

"February's decline resulted from much lower non-residential construction intentions in Ontario. If the province were excluded, the total value of building permits nationally would have increased 9.8 per cent, instead of declining one per cent."

Most analysts had expected the value of building permits to rise by more than one per cent in February. Values fell 3.5 per cent in January.

"Despite the weak headline number, the housing sector remains on solid footing in Canada," said Jacqui Douglas, economics strategist at TD Securities.




© Canwest News Service 2008