Canada Building Permits Up in May

The first of this week’s important reports on the market was released yesterday. Statistics Canada’s building permits data for May shows an increase in permits issued; up 13.8 per cent from April; with commercial property in Ontario and Manitoba and multi-family units in BC being the big areas of growth. Quebec and Nova Scotia were the only provinces not to see an increase. For residential property, there was a 9.5 per cent increase in construction intentions, the third month of gains in a row, with BC seeing the highest increase and Nova Scotia posting a decline after recent growth. For commercial property, there was a 20.8 per hike in permits, with Ontario and Manitoba gaining most and Quebec, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia seeing declines following large increases in April.