Ontario, B.C. lead as residential permits surge

January 7, 2021

The value of residential permits rose to new heights in November, 2020, increasing 10 per cent to $6.4 billion and breaking the previous record set in September 2020. Except for Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, which reported slight declines, every province posted growth, according to Statistics Canada.
British Columbia led the way with a 27.8 per cent increase. And Ontario has shown strength in each of the last four months—at or near record levels for the province.
Multi-family dwelling permits across the country rose 14.8 per cent to $3.5 billion. The majority of the growth came from British Columbia (41.3 per cent increase)—specifically municipalities in Vancouver Island and in the census metropolitan area of Vancouver.
Permit values rose 13.3 per cent in the Vancouver region, to nearly $783 million. In the Victoria capital region, values rose 22.2 per cent to nearly $113 million. Overall, B.C. building permits for both residential and non-residential climbed 17.4 per cent on a monthly basis to more than $1.47 billion.
A $376 million permit issued for the Sugar Wharf Condominiums in the city of Toronto contributed to the record high reported in Ontario, which posted $1.6 billion in residential permits as of November.
Nationally, single-family house permits increased 4.4 per cent to $2.8 billion in November, continuing the strong upward trend observed over the past six months with values well above pre-COVID levels.
Quebec (up 12.7 per cent) recorded the largest gain, while Nova Scotia (down 8.5 per cent) was the only province to post a decline, according to Statistics Canada data.