Building permit data released by Statistics Canada this morning shows that a downturn in building permits reported for the first quarter accelerated in May, with a few exceptions.
Building permits for the month totaled $1.5 billion, down for $2.3 billion a year ago. The declines were shared across all major metropolitan areas with the exception of Chilliwack, which saw permit value nearly double to $54.7 million in May from $28.2 million a year ago.
But year-to-date are less encouraging, with a 43 per cent decline in Chilliwack contributing to a 20 per cent decline provincewide in the first five months of the year to $7.5 billion in building permits. This was part of a broad-based and accelerating decline versus the first quarter, when overall building permits were down just 14 per cent versus a year ago.
While activity in Chilliwack and Kelowna helped slow the trend, smaller metropolitan areas such as Nanaimo and Kamloops saw significant declines in activity during the first five months of the year. Victoria saw permit approvals shift from 10 per cent growth versus a year ago in the first quarter to being down 2 per cent in the first five months of the year.
The majority of the downturn was related to non-residential activity. Non-residential building permits fell 33 per cent provincewide to $2.2 billion, while residential permits were down 13 per cent to $5.3 billion. Kamloops and Nanaimo led the drop in non-residential permits, with issuances down by 80 per cent and 75 per cent, respectively. Chilliwack, Kelowna and Victoria all saw increases, softening the blow.
Residential activity, by contrast, pared losses seen in the first quarter. Many of the B.C. metropolitan areas tracked by Statistics Canada saw housing activity strengthen as better weather kicked off the traditional home building season. the exceptions included Nanaimo, down 31 per cent year-to-date versus a decline of just 4 per cent in the first quarter, and Chilliwack, down 14 per cent year-to-date versus a decline of 4 per cent in the first quarter.
Vancouver posted a 7 per cent decline, due to a drop in multifamily permits which accounted for 90 per cent of Metro Vancouver’s residential building permits last year.
A drop in non-residential building permits drove overall building permit activity lower in the first five months of the year. Statistics Canada/Western Investor
