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May 10, 2023BUILDING PERMITS, MARCH 2023 Month over month (seasonally adjusted, Mar 2023 vs. Feb 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 6.1% to $230.7 million. Halifax permits increased 24.5% to $157.2 million. Outside the city, permit values decreased 19.5% to $73.5 million. National permits increased 11.3% to $11.80 billion. Building permit values were up in 7 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits increased 8.9% to $170.4 million. Halifax residential permits increased 28.2% to $108.1 million. Outside the city, residential permit values decreased 13.6% to $62.3 million. National residential building permit values decreased 0.9% to $6.62 billion. Residential permit values were up in 5 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island. Saskatchewan reported the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits declined 1.2% to $60.3 million. Halifax permits increased 17.1% to $49.2 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values decreased 41.6% to $11.2 million. National non-residential building permit values increased 32.0% to $5.18 billion. Non-residential permit values were up in 7 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest decline.
Year-to-date (January-March 2023 vs January-March 2022)
Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) increased 4.8%. Halifax permits increased 10.5%. Outside the city, permit values decreased 2.2%. National permits decreased 7.0%. Building permit values were up in 3 of 10 provinces, led by Manitoba. Saskatchewan reported the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits decreased 7.6%. Halifax residential permits decreased 8.5%. Outside the city, residential permit values decreased 6.6%. National residential building permit values decreased 13.6%. Residential permit values were down in 9 of 10 provinces, led by Saskatchewan. Manitoba reported the only gain.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits increased 53.3%. Halifax permits increased 80.8%. Outside the city, non-residential permit values increased 15.7%. National non-residential building permit values increased 5.0%. Non-residential permit values were up in 5 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. British Columbia reported the largest decline.
Overall building permit values in Nova Scotia increased in the first three months of 2023 compared with January-March 2022. This reflects an increase in all non-residential permit types across the province, with the exception of industrial building permit values in Halifax. Residential permit values were down year-to-date on multiple dwelling permit values outside Halifax as well as single dwelling permit values in Halifax, which offset the gains in single dwelling permit values outside Halifax as well as multiple dwelling permit values in Halifax.
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 started to trend down near the end of 2022. Even so, residential permit values both in Halifax and outside the city are above pre-pandemic levels at the end of 2022 and early 2023.
After growing at the end of 2021, Nova Scotia's non-residential building permit values had trended down since the beginning of 2022 while trending up in recent months. Non-residential permit values have trended up in recent months in Halifax and 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, with stronger growth in single dwelling unit permit values than in multi-unit structures.
Non-residential building permits have lower values than residential permits. After rising in late 2021, Halifax values for industrial building permits have declined. In recent months, Halifax commercial and institutional/government building permits are trending up. Outside the city, permits are trending up since the end of 2022, particularly for commercial projects.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 34-10-0066-01 Building permits, by type of structure and type of work (x 1,000)
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