Value of Canadian building permits issued in August rises 10.4% from July

OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says municipalities issued $7.3 billion worth of building permits in August, a 10.4 per cent increase compared with July.

Economists had expected a gain of 3.0 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters.

The improvement came as the value of residential building permits increased 9.6 per cent to $4.5 billion in August after four consecutive monthly decreases.

Statistics Canada says permits for both multi-family and single-family dwellings increased.

The value of permits for multi-family dwellings rose 14.7 per cent to $1.9 billion in August, while permits for single-family buildings rose 6.0 per cent to $2.5 billion.

In the non-residential sector, the value of permits issued by municipalities increased 11.6 per cent to $2.9 billion due to an increase in plans for commercial buildings and, to a lesser extent, industrial buildings.