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April 04, 2023BUILDING PERMITS, FEBRUARY 2023 Month over month (seasonally adjusted, Feb 2023 vs. Jan 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 13.3% to $216.9 million. Halifax permits increased 37.9% to $121.4 million. Outside the city, permit values decreased 7.6% to $95.5 million. National permits increased 8.6% to $10.73 billion. Building permit values were up in 7 of 10 provinces, led by Newfoundland and Labrador. Saskatchewan reported the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits increased 28.2% to $156.6 million. Halifax residential permits increased 61.6% to $81.9 million. Outside the city, residential permit values increased 4.6% to $74.7 million. National residential building permit values increased 7.9% to $6.56 billion. Residential permit values were up in 7 of 10 provinces, led by New Brunswick. Saskatchewan reported the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits declined 12.9% to $60.3 million. Halifax permits increased 5.7% to $39.5 million. Outside the city, non-residential permit values decreased 34.8% to $20.8 million. National non-residential building permit values increased 9.8% to $4.17 billion. Non-residential permit values were up in 5 of 10 provinces, led by Newfoundland and Labrador. Saskatchewan reported the largest decline.
Year-to-date (January-February 2023 vs January-February 2022)
Nova Scotia's total building permits (residential and non-residential) increased 1.4%. Halifax permits decreased 7.6%. Outside the city, permit values increased 13.0%. National permits decreased 10.2%. Building permit values were up in 5 of 10 provinces, led by Newfoundland and Labrador. Quebec reported the largest decline.
Nova Scotia's residential building permits decreased 12.8%. Halifax residential permits decreased 25.3%. Outside the city, residential permit values increased 2.7%. National residential building permit values decreased 12.2%. Residential permit values were down in 8 of 10 provinces, led by Quebec. Manitoba and Alberta reported the only gains.
Nova Scotia's non-residential building permits increased 56.6%. Halifax permits increased 56.5%. Outside the city, non-residential permit values increased 56.6%. National non-residential building permit values decreased 7.0%. Non-residential permit values were up in 6 of 10 provinces, led by Newfoundland and Labrador. British Columbia reported the largest decline.
Overall building permit values in Nova Scotia increased in the first two months of 2023 compared with January-February 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 across the province as well as single dwelling permit values in Halifax, which offset the gains in single dwelling permit values outside 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 have trended down since the beginning of 2022. Non-residential permit values have trended down in Halifax while 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, values for Halifax commercial and industrial building permits have declined. 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)