BC building permits fall 27%

After posting a noticeable lift in August, the building intentions of British Columbia contractors fell back down in September, figures in Statistics Canada's latest report on the value of building permits shows.

And the decline was in the non-residential sector, which was responsible for B.C.'s rise in activity in August.

B.C. contractors took out permits worth $666.7 million, a 27-per-cent drop from the $917 million taken out in August with all of the decline attributable to a decline in non-residential construction intentions.

Residential construction intentions rose in September with builders taking out permits for $487 million, a 39 per cent increase from the $350 million taken out in August.

However, non-residential permits totalled only $179.6 million in September, down 68 per cent from the $566.5 million taken out in August.

In Metro Vancouver, however, builders took out $372 million worth of permits, down just 2.4 per cent from the $381 million taken out in August.

Across Canada, the value of residential building permits rose 9.4 per cent in September, but gains in that sector were offset by a 9.1 per cent drop in non-residential permits, Statistics Canada said Thursday.

Overall, permits were up 1.6 per cent to $5.1 billion during the month -- the second straight monthly increase, the federal agency said.

The increase was in line with economists' forecasts.

"Overall, the value of building permits fell in three provinces (British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador) and two territories (Nunavut and Yukon)," the agency said.

The value of residential permits rose to $3.2 billion, the highest level since September 2008. "The increase was mainly a result of gains in the value of multi-family dwellings, especially in British Columbia and Ontario," the agency said. Permits were issued for 7,835 multi-family units in September, up 27.8 per cent.

Permits for single-family homes rose enough in six other provinces to offset a 5.4 per cent drop in Ontario and send the overall value up 0.2 per cent, to $2.1 billion.

In all, municipalities approved permits for 15,250 new dwellings across the country in September, an increase of 13.3 per cent.

Non-residential sector permits dropped 9.1 per cent to $1.9 billion in September, due mainly to declines in institutional and commercial building intentions in British Columbia.

The value of institutional permits fell 18.5 per cent to $597 million.

Fewer plans to build recreational facilities and laboratories in British Columbia and office buildings in Ontario accounted for the drop in commercial building intentions.

The value of industrial permits rose for the second month in a row, up 20 per cent to $363 million, largely due to projects for utility buildings in Quebec and Ontario.

" B.C. building permits fall 27 per cent in September after rising in August", Financial Post/Vancouver Sun)