Special to Canadian Design and Construction Report
National building permits fell by $1.2 billion or 9 per cent to $12.0 billion in June, with Ontario’s institutional segment leading the decline after driving growth in May, according to Statistics Canada data released on Aug. 12.
Ontario’s institutional component receded from $1.9 billion in May to $538 million in June to propel the monthly non-residential sector decline. Despite this decrease, institutional construction intentions on a national basis remained strong, bolstered by growth in Alberta and hospital construction intentions in the Red Deer census metropolitan area.
Commercial construction intentions declined by $87.4 million in June, led by Quebec, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia. Ontario partially offset the drop with new permits for warehouses, indoor recreational facilities and retail and wholesale outlets.
The industrial component increased by $192.7 million in June, led by Quebec and Ontario.
Residential construction intentions fell by $318 million to $7.1 billion in June. British Columbia’s multi-family component led the decline after leading the sector with gains in May.
In June, British Columbia’s multi-family component drop was partially offset by a strong performance in Ontario.
In June, the single-family component declined by $173.5 million to $2.4 billion as construction intentions pulled back in Ontario and Alberta.
The total value of building permits in the second quarter was down $1.9 billion to $36.7 billion, following five consecutive quarterly increases, on a $3.8 billion drop in the residential component even while Ontario’s non-residential sector grew by $2.5 billion.
Residential construction intentions declined 15 per cent to $21.7 billion in the second quarter fueled by multi-family component losses in Ontario and British Columbia. Ontario’s decrease reflected a second consecutive quarterly decline in the Toronto CMA, which recorded its lowest constant dollar value since at least 2018.
The single-family component fell by $874.3 million to $7.7 billion in the second quarter, led by Ontario’s decline.
A total of 305,400 single-family and multi-family units were authorized for construction from the third quarter of 2024 to the second quarter of 2025, an increase of 37,900 units or 14.2 per cent compared with the 267,500 over the same period a year earlier.
Non-residential construction intentions increased by $2 billion to a record high of $15 billion in the second quarter on institutional gains reflecting hospital projects in n Ontario.
The industrial component increased $698.9 million to $2.9 billion in the second quarter, led by Ontario and Quebec.
The commercial component declined by $147.3 million to $6.5 billion, even while Ontario posted a gain.
