Okanagan Mortgage Team

Canada's building plans surge 18%

Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press

Increases in industrial, educational and commercial activity sends October's permits to a 13-month high

• Share with friends
  Close

  Email

  Please enter a valid e-mail address

  Please enter a comma delimited list of valid e-mail addresses

  Other ways of sharing:

  • Tweet this on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Add to Delicious
  • Submit post to Digg.com
  • Seed this post at Newsvine
• Print or License
  Close

  • Print this page
  • License this story
• Recommend |
  0 Times

See also:

• Building industry picking up
• Flaherty pushes bigger global role
• Business faces end of stimulus

• 
  
• Article
• 
  
• Interactive
• 
  
• Comments
• 
  

Tavia Grant

Globe and Mail Update Published on Monday, Dec. 07, 2009 8:47AM EST Last updated on Monday, Dec. 07, 2009 9:30AM EST

Canadian building permits jumped a greater-than-expected 18 per cent in October in another sign the Canadian economy is emerging from recession.

The value of building permits hit a 13-month high of $6.1-billion, Statistics Canada said Monday. Economists polled by Bloomberg had expected a 1-per-cent increase in the month.

The increase comes amid growing evidence Canada is climbing out of recession. The economy eked out an expansion in the third quarter of this year, while churning out 79,000 new jobs last month, two reports showed last week.

The release comes a day ahead of a Bank of Canada announcement on interest rates. The central bank is almost sure to keep its key lending rate unchanged at a record low of 0.25 per cent. Economists will closely watch its wording on whether rates will likely stay at that level until the middle of next year – even as the economy warms up.

The building permit gains were widespread. On the residential side, construction plans grew for the third straight month, as the value of single-home intentions hit its highest level since February, 2008. In the non-residential side, permits soared 42.4 per cent, with industrial construction rising for the third month in a row.

The residential side climbed 3.8 per cent, led by growth in Ontario and Quebec. Single-home plans increased for the eighth month in a row, with advances in every province except Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

That outweighed a decline in multiple dwelling intentions. Building plans for multi-family housing fell 8.2 per cent, reversing a September increase.

On the non-residential side, all three components – industrial, institutional and commercial – grew in October.

In the industrial component, which includes plans for plants, mines, water filtration facilities, subways and utilities, the value of building permits doubled amid higher construction intentions in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec.

The segment tends to be the most volatile, but “what's a surprise is that it's been going up three months in a row,” said Statscan analyst Nicole Charron. “That really jumped out at me.”