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:
April 04, 2022BUILDING PERMITS, FEBRUARY 2022 Month over month (seasonally adjusted, February 2022 vs. January 2022)
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 18.1% to $215.6 million. Halifax permits increased 12.8% to $111.3 million. Outside the city, permit values increased 24.4% to $104.4 million. National permits increased 21.0% to $12.42 billion. Building permit values were up in 8 of 10 provinces, led by British Columbia while Saskatchewan and Alberta reported the only decreases.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits increased 10.4% to $164.6 million. Halifax residential permits increased 0.5% to $80.6 million. Outside the city, residential permit values increased 21.9% to $84.1 million. National residential building permit values increased 9.8% to $7.49 billion. Residential permit values were up in 9 of 10 provinces, with the largest growth in New Brunswick and the only decline in Quebec.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits increased 52.6% to $51.0 million. Halifax permits increased 66.4% to $30.7 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values increased 35.6% to $20.3 million. National non-residential building permit values increased 43.2% to $4.93 billion. Non-residential permit values were up in 7 of 10 provinces, with the largest gains in Prince Edward Island while Saskatchewan reported the largest decline.
Year-to-date (January-February 2022 vs. January-February 2021)
Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) increased 51.5%. Halifax permits increased 114.7%. Outside the city, permit values increased 14.1%. National permits increased 11.2%. Building permit values were up in every province except Ontario (-0.2%). The largest increases were in Nova Scotia and British Columbia.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits increased 58.5%. Halifax residential permits increased 100.9%. Outside the city, residential permit values increased 29.7%. National residential building permit values increased 1.5%. Residential permit values were up in 6 of 10 provinces, with the largest gains in Nova Scotia and the largest decline in Saskatchewan.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits increased 30.2%. Halifax permits increased 176.5%. Outside the city, non-residential permit values decreased 25.1%. National non-residential building permit values increased 33.1%. Non-residential permit values were up in all 10 provinces, led by British Columbia; Ontario reported the smallest gain.
Overall building permit values in Nova Scotia increased in the first two months of 2022 compared with January-February 2021. This reflects an increase in most residential and non-residential permit types across the province, with the exception of institutional/government buildings.
Trends
After declining in early 2020, Nova Scotia's building permits values have grown significantly - starting first with residenial construction permits in late 2020 and followed by non-residential permits in late 2021. The rise in residential permits was stronger outside Halifax while non-residential permit values in the city accounted for the recent uptick.
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. Since the middle of 2020, both single and multiple dwelling unit permits have trended up - particularly in parts of Nova Scotia outside Halifax.
Non-residential building permits have lower values than residential permits. Halifax non-residential building permits have been increasing since the middle of 2021. Commercial projects generally account for the bulk of non-residential building permit values. Commercial permits in Halifax had an upward trend since June 2021. Commercial project building permit values outside Halifax have been flat in recent months. Industrial building permits have also moved upwards in recent months.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 34-10-0066-01 Building permits, by type of structure and type of work (x 1,000)
<--- Return to Archive
