Canada Building Permits Drop 17.3% in July

By Robb M. Stewart

OTTAWA--Building permits issued in Canada slumped in July, driven by a drop in the non-residential sector and a decline in institutional construction plans in Ontario.

The total value of building permits dropped 17.3% from the month before to a seasonally adjusted 12.19 billion Canadian dollars, the equivalent of US$8.76 billion, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.

The pullback was much sharper than the 4.8% drop expected for the month by economists, and more than offset the 18.3% rise in the value of permits a month earlier that had followed declines in April and May.

On a year-over-year basis, the overall value of permits issued was up 0.9%, the data agency said.

Construction intentions in the residential sector fell 8.9% from the previous month and were down 2.3% on the same month last year at C$7.21 billion worth of permits. Intentions to build multifamily dwellings dropped 10.2%, while intentions for single-family homes declined 6.2%.

British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec led the decline in multi-unit permits in the latest month, while eight provinces and two territories recorded a decrease in the single-family segment.

Permits for nonresidential buildings were down 27.1% at C$4.98 billion, the agency said.

After leading growth in institutional intentions in June, Ontario drove a drop in institutional permits in July, supported by weakness in Quebec and British Columbia. The value of industrial building permits also fell for the month, though there was a rise in commercial intentions.

Building permits provide an early indication of construction activity in Canada and are based on a survey of 2,400 municipalities, representing 95% of the country's population. The issuance of a permit doesn't guarantee that construction is imminent.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

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September 16, 2026 09:07 ET (13:07 GMT)