August 2006

The value of building permits hit their second highest level on record after Municipalities issued $5.8 billion worth of permits, up 8.3% from July.  Permit values are second only to December 2005 of $6.3 billion.

Residential building permits were up 5.0% from July to $3.6 Billion.  This is the third gain in permit values in the past four months, and is attributed to strong demand in both single family and multi family dwellings.

The value of non-residential permits was up 14.2% in July to $2.17 billion.  Permit values for August were the second highest in the last 12 months.  Only March 2006 registered a higher level.  Non-residential permits have been on an upward trend since the end of 2005. 

While every Province, except for Manitoba and Saskatchewan, posted gains, it was the strong increases in Ontario (+10.6% to 1.3 Billion) that were largely behind the increase in August.  British Columbia was in second place with an increase of +11.4% to $649 million.     

This information suggests that Canada's housing sector remains healthy. A strong economy, solid consumer confidence, low mortgage rates, and a favorable job market continue to fuel Canada's housing market.

The September building permit estimates will be released on November 6.

Previous release on building permits.

 

---

Statistics Canada information is used with the permission of Statistics Canada. Users are forbidden to copy the data and redisseminate them, in an original or modified form, for commercial purposes, without the expressed permission of Statistics Canada. Information on the availability of the wide range of data from Statistics Canada can be obtained from Statistics Canada's Regional Offices, its World Wide Web site at http://www.statcan.ca, and its toll-free access number 1-800-263-1136.