Canada Building Permits Fall 13.2% MoM in March

The value of building permits in Canada declined 13.2 percent from a month earlier to CAD 7.4 billion, following an upwardly revised 8.4 percent fall in the previous month but less than an expected 20 percent tumble. The CAD 1.1 billion national decrease was the largest since August 2014. This reflected notable drops in Ontario (-12.9%), Quebec (-18.1%) and British Columbia (-19.4%), which coincided with efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. The total value of residential permits went down 13.1% to CAD 4.6 billion, amid declines in permits for single-family dwellings (-15.3%) and multi-family dwellings (-11.1%). In addition, the value of non-residential permits declined 13.3% to CAD 2.8 billion, due to institutional (-15.7%) and commercial permits (-19.7%).