Statistics Canada: Building Permits: September 2015

OTTAWA — The value of residential building permits declined 11.6% from August to $4.2 billion in September. This marked the second consecutive monthly decline following two months of gains. Decreases were registered in five provinces, led by Ontario, followed by Saskatchewan and Quebec. Manitoba and Alberta registered the largest increases in residential construction intentions.
Double-digit decline in multi-family dwelling construction intentions
The value of building permits for multi-family dwellings declined 20.0% to $1.8 billion in September, marking the second decrease in three months. Much of this decline came from Ontario, which had posted a large increase the previous month. Manitoba and Alberta recorded the largest gains in the component.
The value of single-family dwelling permits was down 3.7% to $2.3 billion in September. This was the second consecutive monthly decline. Decreases were posted in five provinces. Ontario accounted for most of the decline, with British Columbia and New Brunswick a distant second and third. The largest advances were in Quebec and Alberta.
Municipalities approved the construction of 16,907 new dwellings in September, down 9.4% from August. The decline came from multi-family dwellings, which fell 11.6% to 11,235 new units, and single-family dwellings, which decreased 4.8% to 5,672 new units.