The Economics and Statistics Division maintains archives of previous publications for accountability purposes, but makes no updates to keep these documents current with the latest data revisions from Statistics Canada. As a result, information in older documents may not be accurate. Please exercise caution when referring to older documents. For the latest information and historical data, please contact the individual listed to the right.
<--- Return to Archive
For additional information relating to this article, please contact:
November 02, 2021BUILDING PERMITS, SEPTEMBER 2021 Month over month (seasonally adjusted, Sep 2021 vs. Aug 2021)
Changes in monthly building permit values are volatile, with large swings from one month to the next. Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) increased 8.2% to $181.7 million. Halifax permits increased 27.4% to $108.2 million. Outside the city, permit values decreased 11.4% to $73.5 million. National permits increased 4.3% to $10.14 billion. Building permit values were up in 7 of 10 provinces, led by Newfoundland and Labrador and Alberta. The largest decline was observed in Prince Edward Island.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits increased 3.0% to $126.4 million. Halifax residential permits increased 21.6% to $76.3 million. Outside the city, residential permit values decreased 16.5% to $50.1 million. National residential building permit values increased 8.2% to $6.88 billion. Residential permit values were down in 7 of 10 provinces, led by Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador. The largest decline was reported in Prince Edward Island.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits increased 22.6% to $55.3 million. Halifax permits increased 43.8% to $31.9 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values increased 2.0% to $23.4 million. National non-residential building permit values decreased 3.2% to $3.26 billion. Non-residential permit values were up in 6 of 10 provinces, led by Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick. The largest declines were reported in Quebec and Saskatchewan.
Year-to-date (Jan-Sep 2021 vs. Jan-Sep 2019)
Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) increased 5.0% to $1,437.5 million. Halifax permits decreased 18.1% to $703.3 million. Outside the city, permit values increased 43.8% to $734.2 million. National permits increased 19.1% to $92.23 billion. Building permit values were up in 8 of 10 provinces, led by Quebec and Ontario. Newfoundland and Labrador and British Columbia were the two provinces to report declines.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits increased 11.4% to $1,103.4 million. Halifax residential permits decreased 17.4% to $557.8 million. Outside the city, residential permit values increased 72.9% to $545.5 million. National residential building permit values increased 35.0% to $63.87 billion. Residential permit values were up in all provinces, led by New Brunswick and Quebec. British Columbia reported the smallest gain.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits decreased 11.8% to $334.1 million. Halifax permits decreased 20.8% to $145.5 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values decreased 3.4% to $188.6 million. National non-residential building permit values decreased 5.9% to $28.36 billion. Non-residential permit values were down in 7 of 10 provinces, led by New Brunswick and British Columbia. Prince Edward Island and Quebec reported the largest increases.
Overall building permit values in Nova Scotia increased from Jan-Sep 2019 to Jan-Sep 2021. This reflects an increase in residential permits outside the city, partially offset by declines in residential and non-residential permits in Halifax.
Trends
Nova Scotia building permit values increased in 2019, mainly due to rising residential permits in Halifax. Permit values trended down in late 2019 and the first half of 2020 but have been rising since then. There was a notable acceleration in building permit values towards the end of 2020, particularly in residential projects across the province. There has been a downward trend in residential and upward trend in non-residential building permit values in Halifax in recent months.
Trends in residential permit values reflect the differences in housing markets for Halifax and the rest of the province. Halifax residential permits were more concentrated in multi-unit dwellings in 2019. Over the last two years, multi-unit building permits had declined in Halifax and rose in last months of 2020. Outside Halifax, single dwelling units make up the majority of building permit values, and these have been increasing sharply since the second half of 2020 (multi-unit permits outside Halifax were also up over this period).
Non-residential building permits have lower values than residential permits. Halifax non-residential building permits have been increasing in recent months. Commercial projects generally account for the bulk of non-residential building permit values. Commercial project building permit values have been declining outside Halifax since reaching a peak in mid-2019. In recent months there has been a decline in institutional/government building permit values outside of Halifax.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 34-10-0066-01 Building permits, by type of structure and type of work (x 1,000)
<--- Return to Archive
