According to Statistics Canada, Canadian contractors took out building permits worth $7.1 billion in December, up 7.7 percent from November. This followed a 13.6 percent decline the previous month. The total value of building permits for 2014 was up 5.2 percent from 2013 to $85.1 billion.
The value of non-residential building permits rose 22.9 percent to $2.7 billion in December, following a 29.4 percent decrease in November. Between January and December 2014, municipalities issued non-residential building permits worth $34.2 billion, an increase of 5.4 percent from 2013.
In the residential sector, the value of permits was unchanged at $4.4 billion in December, following a 2.5 percent decrease in November. Overall for the year, the value of residential building permits totaled $50.9 billion, up 5.1 percent from the total value in 2013.
Canadian municipalities issued commercial building permits worth $1.4 billion in December, 21.2 percent more than in November. This followed a 25.0 percent decrease the previous month. The increase was the result of higher construction intentions for a variety of commercial buildings, including office buildings, recreational facilities, hotels and restaurants as well as warehouses. In the industrial component, construction intentions rose 36.5 percent to $529 million, following a 41.4 percent decline the previous month. The increase was mainly attributable to higher construction intentions for transportation-related buildings and, to a lesser degree, manufacturing plants.
The value of building permits in the institutional component increased 17.7 percent to $768 million in December, following a 28.4 percent decrease in November. Municipalities issued building permits for single-family dwellings worth $2.6 billion in December, up 8.0 percent from November.
Construction intentions for multi-family dwellings fell 9.5 percent to $1.8 billion in December, marking a second consecutive monthly decrease.
At the national level, municipalities approved the construction of 16,023 new dwellings in December, down 5.6 percent from November. The decrease came from multi-family dwellings, down 11.9 percent to 9,550 units. The number of single-family dwellings rose 5.5 percent to 6,473 units.