Canadian building permits rose for the second straight month in January, as the value of permits rose for three subcomponents and declined for two.
The value of building permits increased 5.6% to C$8.41 billion in January from C$7.97 billion in December 2017 and was up 10.8% from a year earlier, largely because of higher construction intentions for multiple-family dwellings in Ontario, Statistics Canada said.
Residential building permits rose 5.9% to C$5.32 billion from C$5.03 billion in the previous month as the 1.3% decline in permits for single-family dwellings was more than offset by a 14.2% increase in multiple residential structures.
Building permits for non-residential structures were up 5.0% to C$3.09 billion in January from C$2.94 billion in the prior month. Permits for institutional buildings rose 19.2% and those for commercial building increased 8.9% from the previous month. Permits for industrial buildings declined 18.6%.
