Canada Building Permits Fall Steeper Than Expected

The total value of building permits in Canada fell 9.0% month-over-month to $12.0 billion in June, marking the steepest decline since June 2024.

This sharply reversed a revised 12.8% gain in May and exceeded market expectations of a 3.4% drop.

Non-residential permits dropped $863.8 million to $4.9 billion, led by a steep decline in Ontario’s institutional component (-$1.4 billion).

However, national institutional construction intentions remained strong (at $1.7 billion), while commercial permits fell (-$87.4 million) and industrial permits rose (+$192.7 million).

Meanwhile, residential intentions declined $318.0 million to $7.1 billion, mainly driven by a sharp drop in British Columbia's multi-family component (-$486.8 million), partly offset by gains in Ontario (+$261.1 million), resulting in a net national decrease in multi-family permits (-$144.5 million).

The single-family component also decreased $173.5 million to $2.4 billion.

Year-over-year, total permits increased 6.9%.