Canada building permits fall 9% in June as Ontario leads decline

Published 12/08/2025, 14:08
Canada building permits fall 9% in June as Ontario leads decline

Investing.com -- The total value of building permits issued in Canada decreased by $1.2 billion (-9.0%) to $12.0 billion in June, according to Statistics Canada.

Ontario’s institutional component, which fell by $1.4 billion, led the decline in construction intentions after driving growth in May. On a constant dollar basis (2023=100), the total value of building permits decreased 9.5% from the previous month but was up 6.9% year-over-year.

The non-residential building permits sector saw a decrease of $863.8 million to $4.9 billion in June. Ontario’s institutional component dropped from $1.9 billion in May to $538.0 million in June, driving the monthly non-residential decline. Despite this decrease, institutional construction intentions remained strong at $1.7 billion nationally, supported by growth in Alberta (+$455.4 million) due to hospital construction plans in the Red Deer census metropolitan area.

Commercial construction intentions declined by $87.4 million, with Quebec (-$113.6 million), British Columbia (-$38.9 million), and Nova Scotia (-$33.9 million) leading the decrease. Ontario (+$139.6 million) partially offset these declines with new permits for warehouses, indoor recreational facilities, and retail outlets.

The industrial component increased by $192.7 million in June, led by Quebec (+$136.4 million) and Ontario (+$78.1 million).

In the residential sector, construction intentions decreased by $318.0 million to $7.1 billion. British Columbia’s multi-family component (-$486.8 million) led this decline after driving sector gains in May. The national multi-family component fell by $144.5 million to $4.6 billion, while Ontario (+$261.1 million) helped temper losses.

The single-family component declined by $173.5 million to $2.4 billion, primarily due to decreases in Ontario (-$91.1 million) and Alberta (-$36.9 million).

Looking at quarterly data, the total value of building permits in the second quarter of 2025 decreased by $1.9 billion to $36.7 billion, ending five consecutive quarterly increases. The residential sector (-$3.8 billion) drove this decrease, while Ontario’s non-residential sector (+$2.5 billion) helped offset some losses.

Residential construction intentions declined 15.0% to $21.7 billion in the second quarter. The multi-family component (-$3.0 billion) led this decline, with significant drops in Ontario (-$1.6 billion) and British Columbia (-$1.3 billion). The Toronto metropolitan area recorded its lowest constant dollar value since the series began in 2018.

Despite these quarterly declines, a total of 305,400 single-family and multi-family units were authorized for construction from the third quarter of 2024 to the second quarter of 2025, representing an increase of 37,900 units (+14.2%) compared to the same period a year earlier.

Non-residential construction intentions increased by $2.0 billion to a record high of $15.0 billion in the second quarter, driven by Ontario’s institutional component (+$1.4 billion). The national institutional component reached a quarterly series high of $5.6 billion, supported by hospital construction plans in the St. Catharines–Niagara and Red Deer metropolitan areas.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

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