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March 09, 2018BUILDING PERMITS, ANNUAL 2017 [REVISED] Statistics Canada has revised their December estimates for building permits based on late responses. This allows a revision of 2017 annual building permits report.
In 2017, building permits were up 27.9 per cent in Nova Scotia over 2016. This is revised up over a 22.1 per cent increase reported last month. Last year saw increases in both residential (24.8 per cent) and non-residential (34.9 per cent) building permits. This primarily reflects increases in Halifax, where overall building permits increased by 54.9 per cent (revised up from 47.1 per cent) in 2017. The rest of the province saw a slight decline (-0.6 per cent) in building permits in 2017 over the previous year, revised up from -4.3 per cent.
The upward revision in the value of annual building permits in Nova Scotia largely reflect upward revisions in the Halifax market, leading to downward revisions for the rest of the province. Therefore, change in annual building permits for the rest of the province is smaller than previously reported.
Annual permitted dwelling-units created in Nova Scotia were up 523 units, revised up from 297. The increase in residential building permits in Halifax reflect increases in both single and multiple dwelling units. Outside of Halifax, single unit dwelling permits increased in 2017, while multiples declined.
Due to the upward revisions in 2017 building permits, annual changes across the country have been pushed upward. Where gains were reported previously, they are now larger, and loses are smaller or even reversed to modest gains (in the case of Alberta’s overall permits). Residential building permits were up in eight provinces, while New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador reported declines in 2017. The largest gains were in Prince Edward Island and Manitoba.
Non-residential building permits were up in eight provinces, with Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick the largest gains, percentage wise. Manitoba and Saskatchewan reported declines in 2017.
Nationally, building permits were up 10.9 per cent in 2017. All provinces reported increased building permits, with Prince Edward Island (37.1 per cent) and Nova Scotia posting the largest gains.
Source: CANSIM 026-0021
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