Construction near $300M in October

Building permit values in Saskatchewan totalled $296.4 million in October, a decrease of 3.7 per cent from $307.8 million the previous month, but 5.6 per cent higher than the $280.7 million in permits issued in October 2011, Statistics Canada reported on Thursday.

Residential permits saw the biggest decline at $150.9 million, down 15 per cent from $177.6 million in September and 1.1 per cent lower than the $152.6 million in October last year.

Non-residential construction permits at $145.5 million were actually up 11.7 per cent from $130.3 million in September and 13.6 per cent higher than the $128.1 million issued in October 2011.

Regina building permits of $102.4 million in October were up 30.7 per cent from the previous month, while Saskatoon’s total permit value of $100.5 million was down 28 per cent from September.

Nationally, Statistics Canada says the value of building permits issued by municipalities rose 15 per cent in October to $7.5 billion after a 12.7-per-cent decline in September.

The agency says the value of permits for non-residential buildings rose 50.3 per cent to $3.4 billion, following a 29.4-per-cent decrease in September and was concen- trated mostly in Ontario and Quebec.

In the residential sector, the value of permits fell 4.1 per cent to $4.1 billion in October. It’s the third monthly decrease in the past four months.

The industrial component saw the value of permits triple to $1.1 billion in October, passing the $1 billion mark for the first time.

In the commercial sector, the value of permits edged up 0.1 per cent to $1.4 billion.

The value of permits in the institutional component rose 69.6 per cent to $982 million, focused mainly in Ontario and Manitoba. All figures are seasonally adjusted.