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October 11, 2023BUILDING PERMITS, AUGUST 2023 Monthly (seasonally adjusted, Aug 2023 vs. Jul 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) decreased 7.4% to $249.3 million. Halifax permits decreased 11.5% to $149.2 million. Outside the city, permit values decreased 0.6% to $100.1 million. National permits increased 3.4% to $11.86 billion. Building permit values were up in 7 of 10 provinces, led by Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador. Quebec reported the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits decreased 16.0% to $173.2 million. Halifax residential permits decreased 25.0% to $97.2 million. Outside the city, residential permit values decreased 0.9% to $76.0 million. National residential building permit values decreased 3.7% to $6.83 billion. Residential permit values were down in 5 of 10 provinces, led by Manitoba. Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan reported the largest gains.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits increased 20.7% to $76.1 million. Halifax permits increased 33.2% to $52.0 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values increased 0.4% to $24.1 million. National non-residential building permit values increased 14.8% to $5.03 billion. Non-residential permit values were up in 8 of 10 provinces, led by Prince Edward Island. Quebec and Alberta reported the declines.
Year-to-date (January-August 2023 vs January-August 2022)
Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) increased 3.4%. Halifax permits decreased 4.1% and outside the city, permit values increased 15.4%. National permits decreased 5.1%. Building permit values were down in 7 of 10 provinces, led by Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island. Nova Scotia reported the largest gain.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits decreased 13.3%. Halifax residential permits decreased 24.0% and outside the city, residential permit values increased 3.4%. National residential building permit values decreased 13.6%. Residential permit values were down in all provinces, led by Newfoundland and Labrador. Manitoba and Saskatchewan reported the smallest declines.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits increased 71.9%. Halifax permits increased 72.4% and outside the city, non-residential permit values increased 71.1%. National non-residential building permit values increased 11.6%. Non-residential permit values were up in 9 of 10 provinces, led by Nova Scotia. Prince Edward Island reported the only decline.
Overall building permit values in Nova Scotia increased in the first eight months of 2023 compared with January-August 2022. This reflects an increase in both single and multiple unit permits outside Halifax. There was a decrease in both single and multiple unit residential permits in Halifax. Non-residential permit values were up year-to-date in all non-residential permit types across the province.
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 in the first half of 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 recent months. Non-residential permit values have trended up 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, 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 and are only recovering slowly. In recent months, Halifax commercial building permits are trending up and institutional/government building permits are trending down. 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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