Economy

Canada Building Permits Surge in May
Written by Sandy Williams
July 7, 2014
Building permit values jumped 13.8 percent in Canada in May, totaling $6.9 billion and exceeding expectations for the month. The increase was due to higher construction intentions for commercial buildings in Ontario and Manitoba as well as multi-family dwellings in British Columbia, said Statistics Canada.
Residential permit values rose 9.5 percent to $4.1 billion. Building permits were authorized for 17,415 new dwellings, up 11.8 percent from April. Multi-family dwellings rose 17.3 percent to 11,330 units while single-family dwelling authorizations rose 2.8 percent to 6,085 units.
Nonresidential permit values were up 20.8 percent to $2.8 billion on strength of commercial construction. Commercial building permit values rose 39.4 percent to 18.1 billion. Industrial permit values were up 22.4 percent to $411 million, primarily for manufacturing plants in Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia. Institutional permit values fell 16.6 percent to $555 million after increasing 37.5 percent in April.

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Economy

Architecture billings continue to slide in March
Architecture firms said billings continued to decline in March, according to the latest Architecture Billings Index (ABI) released by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Deltek.

Beige Book shows concerns about trade policy
Manufacturing was mixed, but two-thirds of districts said activity was little changed or had declined.

New York state manufacturing index drops again in April
Firms were pessimistic, with the future general business conditions index falling to its second lowest reading in the more than 20-year history of the survey

Construction adds 13,000 jobs in March
The construction sector added 13,000 jobs, seasonally adjusted, in March, but tariffs could undermine the industry.

Supply chains, end-users brace for impact from tariffs
Supply chains are working through what the tariffs mean for them