Growth in B.C.’s building permits helped drive national numbers across a variety of sectors in February, according to Statistics Canada.
The province had the largest increase, after two consecutive monthly declines. The advance was attributable to higher construction intentions in all components except the commercial component.
The total value of permits rose 7.5% to $6.5 billion in February, following an 11.4% decline in January. The increase in February was the result of a rise in the non-residential sector, which offset the decrease in the residential sector.
The total value of Canadian building permits in the non-residential sector jumped 36.2% to $2.5 billion, after falling 20.6% in January. The increase resulted from higher non-residential construction intentions in seven provinces.
StatsCan noted that B.C., Quebec and Alberta were largely responsible for the advance.
In contrast, the value of residential permits declined to $3.9 billion, 5.3% less than in January.
The decrease in February was mainly attributable to lower construction intentions for single-family and multi-family dwellings in Ontario. Declines were also reported in five other provinces.
Again, the largest gains were observed in Alberta, Quebec and B.C.
After three consecutive monthly declines, the value of permits in the industrial component rose 151.1% to $714 million in February, the highest level since February 2011.
Industrial construction intentions were up in every province except Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan. The largest increases were in building permits for manufacturing plants in B.C., Quebec, Ontario and Alberta.
