Canada building permits for April -0.5% versus -5.0% estimate

April Canada building permits

• Canada building permits for April came in at -0.5% versus -5.0% estimate. 
• Prior month 5.7%
• Total value of building permits $11.1 billion
• The permits remain near historic high levels. 
• The slight pullback was mainly due to declines in the residential sector in British Columbia and Quebec, which outweighed national gains in the non-residential sector.
• Residential building permits felt -6.7%.  Despite the large decline this was the second highest value on record.
• Multifamily dwellings felt -6.5%
• Commercial permits search 28.7%.  A $97 million permit for the Sick Kids patient support centre in the city of Toronto and an $80 million permit for the Centennial Community and Aquatics Centre in the city of New Westminster were among several large permits that were issued in the month.  To put it in perspective, the largest commercial permit in March was $43 million.