They totalled nearly $10.2 billion in B.C. in 2005, 28 per cent higher than the previous year
Wency Leung
Sun
BUILDING BOOM: The province’s three largest Census Metropolitan Areas saw big percentage increases from 2004 to 2005 in the value of building permits issued. Abbotsford: +55.6%, to $305 million Victoria: +31.9%, to $709 million Vancouver: +16.5%, to $5.6 billion Source: Statistics Canada
The value of building permits issued in B.C. reached a new high in 2005, topping $10 billion after a record December, Statistics Canada reported Monday.
Building permits worth nearly $10.2 billion were issued in the province for the year, up 28 per cent from 2004. Non-residential intentions surged 54.7 per cent to $3.2 billion, compared with $2.1 billion the previous year, while residential permits jumped 18.5 per cent to nearly $7 billion from $5.9 billion in 2004.
“It’s a new annual record in B.C.,” Statistics Canada economist Etienne Saint-Pierre said in an interview.
B.C. and Alberta outpaced the rest of the country, driving the total value of construction permits in Canada to more than $60 billion for 2005, 9.3 per cent higher than the previous high of $55.6 billion issued in 2004.
As the federal agency said in a press release, “If these two provinces were excluded, the annual value of non-residential permits would have risen only 3.3 per cent.”
Low mortgage rates, growth in full-time employment, and a high level of immigration helped gains in the housing sector, Statistics Canada said. Meanwhile, non-residential building intentions were fuelled by low interest rates, strong retail sales and tight office vacancy rates.
B.C. also notched a monthly record for housing permits, which reached $796.3 million in December, up 40.2 percent from November.
December non-residential permits, issued for commercial, institutional and industrial construction, were up a steady 7.6 per cent at $255.5 million.
Those gains are expected to extend the province’s building boom for the next few months, Saint-Pierre said.
“[Contractors] are busy already, but they will remain busy,” he said.
In Vancouver, the value of building permits rose 16.5 per cent to $5.6 billion in 2005. That was helped by a 14.4-per-cent increase in December, with permits valued at $507.9 million, compared with $444 million in November.
Keith Sashaw, president of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association, said he expected the value of permits to be issued this year to outstrip 2005 numbers, despite the rising cost of construction, which he attributed largely to high commodity prices.
“We’re continuing to expect a strong and robust construction market into 2006,” Sashaw said. “There’s a lot of exciting projects that we expect to see being rolled out.”
Sashaw added that despite a current shortage of workers, the construction industry is expected to be able to meet demand as training levels are rising, and more young people are entering the sector.
The labour shortage is “a concern,” Sashaw said. But he added: “It’s not a crisis at this point and we don’t expect to see a crisis.”
© The Vancouver Sun 2006