Canada Building Permits Fall 3% MoM in July

The value of building permits in Canada declined 3 percent from a month earlier to CAD 7.8 billion in July of 2020, following a downwardly revised 5.7 percent rise in June and against market expectations of a 5.5 percent rise. This mainly reflected notable decreases in British Columbia (-34.2 percent), Quebec (-15.1 percent) and Newfoundland and Labrador (-19 percent). The total value of residential permits fell 6.2 percent to CAD 5.1 billion, largely because of the decline in British Columbia (-39.4 percent). The value of permits for multi-family dwellings tumbled 47.8 percent to CAD 0.5 billion, its lowest level since the onset of the pandemic in March. Meanwhile, those for single-family homes increased 3.9 percent to CAD 2.2 billion. On the other hand, non-residential permits rose 3.3 percent to CAD 2.7 billion, as a surge in commercial permits (29.9 percent) offset declines in industrial (-15.7 percent) and institutional ones (-24.2 percent).