(Ottawa) The total value of building permits in Canada increased significantly to 12.8 billion in April from the previous month, up 20.5 per cent, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.
In Quebec, the increase was 9.7%, to 2.1 billion. Noteworthy, there was a decline of 6% on the residential side, to 1.2 billion, offset by an increase of 40.8% on the non-residential side, to 923 million.
The growth seen in the residential sector was primarily driven by the multi-family housing component, which increased 32.6% to an all-time high of 5.4 billion. At the same time, the single-family housing component showed a slight increase of 2.4% to 2.6 billion.
The country’s non-residential sector grew 19.6% to 4.8 billion.
In British Columbia, the total monthly value of building permits (3.1 billion) reached a record high, and the province led monthly increases in both the residential and non-residential sectors in Canada.
In the Maritimes, the total value of building permits in New Brunswick increased 33.1 per cent in April from the previous month to $241 million. Nova Scotia saw a 44.2 per cent increase to $344 million, while Prince Edward Island saw a 22.5 per cent decrease to $52.6 million.