The total value of Canadian building permits increased 0.8 per cent on a monthly basis in July as the result of higher construction intentions in the institutional and industrial sectors, primarily in Alberta and Ontario. 

In BC, total permit activity was down 4.8 per cent from June to July, falling under $1 billion for the first time in several months.  On a year-over-year basis, the dollar value of building permits in the province was 15 per cent lower than July 2015, led by a 21 per cent decrease in residential permits. That could signal a modest slowing of construction activity in coming months following record construction activity in the first half of the year. 

Construction intentions were mixed in BC's four census metropolitan areas (CMA). Permits in the Abbotsford-Mission CMA  were down more than 50 per cent on both and monthly and year-over-year basis while the Vancouver CMA saw a 2.6 per cent decline from June and a 30 per cent drop year-over-year. Conversely, in the Kelowna CMA, permits were up 63 per cent from June and were 40 per cent higher year-over-year. In Victoria, construction intentions fell 32 per cent on a monthly basis, but were 30 per cent higher than in July 2015.