March 15, 2024 – Month over month, the total value of building permits in Canada rose 13.5% in January 2024 to $10.8 billion, reports Statistics Canada, rebounding after a decrease of 11.5% in December.

The residential sector increased 12.6% to $6.5 billion in January, while the non-residential sector grew 14.8% to $4.2 billion.

Gains in the residential sector were led by a strong rebound in multi-unit construction intentions (+35.1% to $4.0 billion); Ontario led this increase (+29.1% to $1.4 billion), with multi-unit permits concentrated in the census metropolitan areas of Toronto, Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo and London.

Quebec (+61.6%, +$244.7 million) and British Columbia (+36.7%, +$281.9 million) also posted notable gains in multi-unit permit values.

Overall residential growth in January was tempered by a decline in the total value of single-family dwelling permits (-10.3% to $2.6 billion), with declines occurring in nine provinces.

Across Canada, 15,200 new dwellings in multi-unit buildings and 4000 new single-family dwellings were authorized in January.

Meantime, the total monthly value of non-residential permits increased 14.8% to $4.2 billion in January, following a 4.0% decline in December.

The growth was attributed to the commercial component, which increased 34.5% to $2.3 billion, the highest monthly level recorded since April 2023. A $200-million permit for a new data centre in Lévis, Que., greatly contributed to the growth observed in January 2024.