Building permits issued dropped by 13.1 per cent in November: StatsCan

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s “Time to Build” promise is crumbling, as the total value of building permits issued across the country plummeted by nearly $2 billion in November.

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Prime Minister Mark Carney’s “Time to Build” promise is crumbling, as the total value of building permits issued across the country plummeted by nearly $2 billion in November.

According to the latest data from Statistics Canada, building permits dropped by 13.1 per cent in November.

The combined decrease across both residential and non-residential sectors totalled $1.8 billion for the month.

“On a constant dollar basis, the total value of building permits issued in November declined 13.3 per cent from the previous month and was down 3.9 per cent on a year-over-year basis,” Statistics Canada wrote on Tuesday.

The overall drop in permits was led by Ontario’s residential construction sector, followed by Quebec, while British Columbia tempered the decline.

“Nationally, the authorizations of new residential construction fell; 20,500 multi-family dwellings and 4,100 single-family dwellings were authorized in November, reflecting an 11.4 per cent decrease from the previous month,” the agency said.

“From December 2024 to November 2025, the total number of multi-family dwellings authorized was 259,300, up from 224,700 during the period spanning from December 2023 to November 2024.”

Meanwhile, the value of non-residential building permits fell 14.9 per cent in November compared with the previous month, with losses recorded across the commercial, institutional and industrial subsectors.

Ontario also led the decrease in the commercial subsector, due to a $233.8 million drop in the Toronto census metropolitan area.

Across Canada, six provinces and two territories experienced decreases in the commercial component.

Regarding the institutional subsector, decreases were observed in nine provinces and two territories in November, led again by Ontario and followed by Alberta.

Five provinces and one territory faced decreases in industrial permits issued, led by Quebec, then British Columbia and Manitoba.

Industrial permits was the one area where Ontario experienced moderate gains, along with four other provinces and two territories.