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September 01, 2022BUILDING PERMITS, JULY 2022 Month over month (seasonally adjusted, Jul 2022 vs. Jun 2022)
Changes in monthly building permit values are typically very volatile, with large swings from one month to the next. Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) decreased 23.7% to $171.8 million. Halifax permits decreased 20.0% to $95.7 million. Outside the city, permit values decreased 27.9% to $76.1 million. National permits decreased 6.6% to $11.17 billion. Building permit values were up in 5 of 10 provinces, led by Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan. Nova Scotia and Ontario reported the largest declines.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits decreased 26.4% to $138.5 million. Halifax residential permits decreased 27.4% to $74.8 million. Outside the city, residential permit values decreased 25.2% to $63.6 million. National residential building permit values decreased 8.6% to $7.58 billion. Residential permit values were up in 4 of 10 provinces, led by Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan. Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island reported the largest declines.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits decreased 10.0% to $33.3 million. Halifax permits increased 26.2% to $20.9 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values decreased 39.3% to $12.4 million. National non-residential building permit values decreased 2.1% to $3.59 billion. Non-residential permit values were up in 6 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan. Ontario reported the largest decline.
Year-to-date (Jan-Jul 2022 vs. Jan-Jul 2021)
Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) increased 24.0% to $1,539.0 million. Halifax permits increased 36.7% to $921.0 million. Outside the city, permit values increased 8.9% to $618.0 million. National permits increased 11.7% to $81.91 billion. Building permit values were up in all provinces, led by British Columbia and Saskatchewan. Ontario reported the smallest gain.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits increased 28.8% to $1,240.3 million. Halifax residential permits increased 40.5% to $736.9 million. Outside the city, residential permit values increased 14.7% to $503.4 million. National residential building permit values increased 6.0% to $54.18 billion. Residential permit values were up in 8 of 10 provinces, led by Newfoundland and Labrador and British Columbia. Ontario and Manitoba reported declines.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits increased 7.6% to $298.7 million. Halifax permits increased 23.4% to $184.1 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values decreased 10.8% to $114.6 million. National non-residential building permit values increased 25.0% to $27.73 billion. Non-residential permit values were up in 9 of 10 provinces, led by British Columbia and Saskatchewan. Newfoundland and Labrador was the only province to report a decline.
Overall building permit values in Nova Scotia increased in the first seven months of 2022 compared with January-July 2021. This reflects an increase in most residential and non-residential permit types across the province, with the exception of institutional/government buildings and industrial buildings in the province.
Trends
Overall building permit values have been on a rising trend since the middle of 2021, mostly driven by the rise in residential permit values (within Halifax as well as outside the city). After growing at the end of 2021, Nova Scotia's non-residential building permit values have trended down since the beginning of 2022. Non-residential permit values have trended down in 2022 for Halifax as well as for the rest of the province.
Trends in residential permit values reflect the differences in housing markets for Halifax and the rest of the province. In Halifax, growth in permit values for multi-unit dwellings has outpaced growth in single-dwelling unit permits. Outside the city the situation is reversed, with stronger growth in single dwelling unit permit values than in multi-unit structures.
Non-residential building permits have lower values than residential permits. After rising in late 2021, values for Halifax commercial building permits have stabilized while Halifax industrial permits have declined. Outside the city, permits are trending down in 2022 for all three categories of non-residential building: commercial, industrial and government/institutional.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 34-10-0066-01 Building permits, by type of structure and type of work (x 1,000)
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