Canada's building permits fall 18.8% to lowest since December 2020

ISTANBUL

Building permits in Canada fell 18.8% in April to their lowest level since December 2020, according to the country's statistical authority on Tuesday.

The figure was well below expectations of a 2.9% monthly decrease while building permits for March was revised up from a gain of 11.3% to 12.3%.

The monthly value of building permits came in at $9.6 billion in April, Statistics Canada said in a statement.

"Following a record high in March, the total monthly value of non-residential permits fell 34.6% to $3.4 billion in April," it added.

The drop was observed most in the commercial sector with a 40.2% decline and in the industrial sector with a decrease of 49.6%.

The total monthly value of residential permits declined 6.1% to $6.1 billion, down for a second consecutive month.