November 19, 2008

British Columbia bucks September’s building-permits trend

Richard Gilbert

staff writer

The value of building permits in Canada made a recovery in September, with significant increases in every western province except British Columbia.

Statistics Canada released a report that said municipalities across the country issued $6.5 billion in building permits in September, up 13.4 per cent.

This rebound in building permits followed an 11.7 per cent decline in August.

The value of B.C. permits fell by 2.5 per cent to $919 million and in Vancouver, the value of building permits fell by .7 per cent to $477 million.

Continued change is expected by the construction industry in the coming months as the economic effects of the global financial situation affect commercial investment, lending policies and consumer demand.

According to the Statistics Canada report, the drop in construction intentions in B.C. was largely the result of a decline in residential permits, which fell by about 14 per cent to $591 million.

Non-residential permits increased in B.C. by about 24 per cent to $328 million.

In western Canada, the most significant increase was in Saskatchewan, which was up by 115.2 per cent to $334 million.

The change was driven by the non-residential sector, which increased by a whopping 350 per cent to $250 million.

In Alberta, construction intentions were up 11.9 per cent to $1.0 billion, also driven by non-residential construction, which jumped by 21 per cent to $594 million. Residential construction remained flat growing by .9 per cent to $432 million.

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