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February 06, 2024BUILDING PERMITS, DECEMBER & ANNUAL 2023 Monthly (seasonally adjusted, Dec 2023 vs. Nov 2023)
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 29.4% to $201.6 million. Halifax permits decreased 48.0% to $93.7 million. Outside the city, permit values increased 2.6% to $107.8 million. National permits declined 14.0% to $9.25 billion. Building permit values were down in 9 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island. New Brunswick reported the only gain.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits decreased 45.5% to $122.1 million. Halifax residential permits decreased 60.3% to $59.9 million. Outside the city, residential permit values decreased 14.7% to $62.3 million. National residential building permit values decreased 17.9% to $5.66 billion. Residential permit values were down in 7 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan. New Brunswick reported the largest gain.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits increased 29.1% to $79.4 million. Halifax permits increased 15.0% to $33.9 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values increased 42.1% to $45.6 million. National non-residential building permit values decreased 7.0% to $3.59 billion. Non-residential permit values were up in 3 of 10 provinces, led by Nova Scotia. Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest declines.
Annual (2023 vs 2022)
Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) increased 7.7% in 2023. Halifax permits increased 0.2% and outside the city permit values increased 20.4%. National permits decreased 3.2%. Building permit values were up in 6 of 10 provinces, led by Saskatchewan. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest decline.
In 2023, Nova Scotia's residential building permits decreased 6.9%. Halifax residential permits decreased 15.4% and outside the city residential permit values increased 7.2%. National residential building permit values decreased 9.7%. Residential permit values were up in two provinces, led by Saskatchewan. British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest declines.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits increased 64.1% in 2023. Halifax permits increased 59.6% and outside the city non-residential permit values increased 71.8%. National non-residential building permit values increased 9.0%. Non-residential permit values were up in 6 of 10 provinces, led by Nova Scotia. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest decline.
Overall building permit values in Nova Scotia increased in 2023 compared with 2022. There was a decrease in both single and multiple unit residential permits in Halifax. Non-residential permit values were up in all non-residential permit types across 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 rising sharply since 2020, residential permit values were trending down from the end of 2022 to the middle of 2023. In the second half of 2023 residential permit values started to rise again in Halifax. Residential permit values outside the city were above pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and 2023.
After growing at the end of 2021, Nova Scotia's non-residential building permit values had trended down from the beginning of 2022 to the start of 2023 before trending up in in the first half of the year and reaching a plateau. Non-residential permit values have reached a peak in recent months in Halifax with an upward trend since the middle of 2022 in 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, where single dwelling unit permits are more common than multi-unit structures.
Non-residential building permits have lower values than residential permits. After rising in early 2023, Halifax values for industrial building permits have peaked. Halifax commercial building permits have been trending down. Outside the city, permits have continued to trend upward with a recent rise in institutional/government permits.
Note: Statistics Canada has replaced this table 34-10-0066 by table 34-10-0285. The information from January 2017 onwards that was in table 34-10-0066 is still available in the new table, except for the constant dollar series which have been rebased to 2017 = 100.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 34-10-0285-01 Building permits, by type of structure and type of work (x 1,000)
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