Canadian Building Permits Rise Sharply In May, Thursday, July 05, 2007 8:45:03 AM

Statistics Canada released its report on Canadian building permits in the month of May on Thursday, showing that the value of Canadian building permits rebounded by much more than expected after falling in the previous month.

The report showed that the value of building permits surged up 21.4 percent to a record C$6.83 billion in May from C$5.63 billion in April. Economists had been expecting a much more modest increase of about 4.5 percent following the revised 7.3 percent decline in the previous month.

The sharp rise in the value of building permits was largely due to strength in the Calgary and Vancouver metropolitan areas, which were responsible for nearly 75 percent of the overall gain in May. Excluding those two areas, the value of permits increased by only 7.0 percent.

Statistics Canada noted that the value of non-residential permits spiked up 55.7 percent in May to a record C$3.12 billion as a result of a big increase in commercial projects. At the same, the value of residential permits edged up 2.4 percent to C$3.71 billion.

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