New homes under construction in Richmond Hill, Ont., are seen in this file photo.Moe Doiron/The Globe and Mail
Statistics Canada says the value of building permits issued in June fell 2.5 per cent to $6.8-billion, mostly because of a drop in the non-residential and residential sectors in Alberta and British Columbia.
The decrease follows a 7.1 per cent increase in the previous month.
The value of residential building permits increased 4.2 per cent to $4.4-billion in June, a second consecutive monthly increase, which was mostly due to an increase in Ontario.
Contractors took out $2.5-billion worth of permits in the non-residential sector, down 12.3 per cent.
The total value of building permits was down in seven provinces in June, with Alberta and British Columbia posting the biggest drops.
The agency says Alberta's decrease stemmed from lower construction intentions in both the residential and non-residential sectors, while British Columbia's drop resulted from lower construction intentions for institutional and commercial buildings, as well as multi-family homes.
Ontario posted the biggest monthly gain, which Statistics Canada says is because of growth in the value of building permits for both residential and non-residential construction.
The value of building permits fell in 22 of the 34 census metropolitan areas in June, with Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton experiencing the largest declines.
Toronto had the biggest gain, led mainly by more construction permits for semi-detached houses, row houses and single homes – and to a lesser extent, non-residential buildings.