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March 07, 2024BUILDING PERMITS, JANUARY 2024 Monthly (seasonally adjusted, Jan 2024 vs. Dec 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) increased 60.9% to $323.7 million. Halifax permits increased 120.0% to $206.3 million. Outside the city, permit values increased 9.3% to $117.4 million. National permits rose 13.5% to $10.78 billion. Building permit values were up in 7 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island. Saskatchewan reported the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits increased 104.6% to $249.9 million. Halifax residential permits increased 175.4% to $165.0 million. Outside the city, residential permit values increased 36.4% to $85.0 million. National residential building permit values increased 12.6% to $6.53 billion. Residential permit values were up in 5 of 10 provinces, led by Nova Scotia. Saskatchewan reported the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits decreased 6.7% to $73.7 million. Halifax permits increased 21.9% to $41.3 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values decreased 28.2% to $32.4 million. National non-residential building permit values increased 14.8% to $4.24 billion. Non-residential permit values were up in 7 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island. Saskatchewan reported the largest decline.
Year-Over-Year (January 2024 vs January 2023)
Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) increased 63.3% in January 2024. Halifax permits increased 121.5% and outside the city permit values increased 11.7%. National permits increased 4.8%. Building permit values were up in 6 of 10 provinces, led by New Brunswick. Saskatchewan reported the largest decline.
In January 2024, Nova Scotia's residential building permits increased 105.9%. Halifax residential permits increased 237.0% and outside the city residential permit values increased 17.3%. National residential building permit values increased 5.6%. Residential permit values were up in six provinces, led by New Brunswick. Saskatchewan reported the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits decreased 4.1% in January 2024. Halifax permits decreased 6.5% and outside the city non-residential permit values decreased 0.7%. National non-residential building permit values increased 3.4%. Non-residential permit values were up in 4 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest decline.
Overall building permit values in Nova Scotia increased in January 2024 compared with January 2023. There was an increase in single dwelling unit permits in Halifax and fell outside the city. Multiple unit residential permits rose across the province. Non-residential permit values were down in commercial permits and up in institutional and government permits across the province. Industrial permits were down in Halifax and up in outside the city.
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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