Building permit values plunged by almost 19% in April, dropping to their lowest-recoded level since December 2020.

zValues dropped by 18.8% to reach $9.6 billion, with both sectors reporting contractions.

Following a record high in March, the total monthly value of non-residential permits fell 34.6% to $3.4 billion in April. The drop was observed across all components but was most pronounced in commercial (-40.2% or - $1.1 billion) and industrial (-49.6% or -$663.8 million) construction intentions.

On a seasonally unadjusted basis, the average commercial permit was valued at $433,000 in April compared with $901,000 in March. Similarly, the average industrial permit was valued at $413,000 in April compared with $1.7 million in March. The significantly lower average permit values show that the monthly declines in April are attributed to exceptionally high volumes of large-scale projects in March.

The total monthly value of residential permits declined 6.1% to $6.1 billion, sliding for the second consecutive month. Declines were posted for both the single-family and multi-dwelling components.

Eight provinces reported drops, with Ontario (down 10.5% or -$296.4 million) contributing significantly to the decrease.

British Columbia (up 2.6% or +$35.1 million) and Saskatchewan (up 45.0% or +$15.2 million) were the two provinces to post monthly growth in residential construction intentions.