May 12, 2008

Drop in Alberta construction intentions drags down national permit values

Richard Gilbert

staff writer

Construction intentions in Alberta declined sharply in March, which caused a fall in the total value of building permits in Canada, according to Statistics Canada.

Alberta experienced the largest reduction of any province in the total value of building permits (-32.9 per cent) in March, said Statistics Canada in a report released on May 6.

The reduction in the value of building permits in March occurred in both the residential sector (-30.1 per cent) and the non-residential sector (-35.6 per cent).

This rapid decline had a significant impact on the overall results.

It caused the total value of building permits in Canada to drop 4.5 per cent to $5.6 billion.

“Excluding Alberta, the value of building permits would have increased by 5.1 per cent instead of declining 4.5 per cent nationally,” said the report.

“With marked retreats in both residential and non-residential sectors, the total value of construction intentions was below the $1 billion mark for the first time in 13 months.”

The total value of construction intentions in Canada and Alberta have declined for the third consecutive quarter.

The total value of permits between January and March in Alberta was down from the previous year.

“The cumulative value of permits for the January-to-March period in Alberta totalled $3.7 billion, down 3.8 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2007.

This result was 19.2 per cent lower than the peak recorded in the second quarter of 2007,” the report said.

In Calgary construction intention declined (-45.1 per cent) in March to $333.7 million, which is the largest fall of any metropolitan area in Canada.

However, the city experienced an increase (1.6 per cent) between the first quarter of 2007 and 2008.

In Edmonton, the value of building permits fell (-21 per cent) to $246.8 million in March.

The city had a reduction (-6.7 per cent) in construction intentions between the first quarter of 2007 and 2008.

The total value of permits in Canada reached $17.3 billion for the first quarter of 2008, which was down 8.2 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2007.

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