Canada Building Permits Unexpectedly Rise in August

The value of building permits in Canada increased 6.1 percent from a year earlier to CAD 9.0 billion in August 2019, following an upwardly revised 3.2 percent gain in the previous month and above market forecasts of a 1 percent fall. The value of permits for multi-family dwellings advanced 18.8 percent to CAD 3.3 billion, over half of these gains were in British Columbia, largely because of a high-value permit in the census metropolitan area (CMA) of Vancouver. Also, the value of permits for single-family dwellings went up 3.2 percent to CAD 2.4 billion, led by Ontario. In addition, industrial permits were the only component in the non-residential sector to increase in value, rising 18.9 percent to CAD 675 million, driven by a high-value permit for a bio-pharmaceutical company in the CMA of Toronto. Meanwhile, the value of commercial permits fell 5.9 percent to CAD 1.9 billion.