The value of Canadian building permits issued in August unexpectedly fell by 3.7% from July on a decline in construction intentions in several provinces, information released Wednesday by Statistics Canada indicated.
Market analysts had expected the value of permits to increase by 0.8%. StatsCan revised July's data to show a 0.7% increase from June after initially reporting a 0.6% decline.
In Ontario, the most populous province, the value of permits rose by 19.4% overall but this increase was offset by declines elsewhere.
Residential building permits dropped by 5.1%, pulled down by a 8.3% fall in multi-family dwellings. The largest decrease was in British Columbia, where the value of permits issued for such dwellings hit a record in July.
The value of permits for single-family dwellings dropped by 1.9%, the first decline in three months.
Intentions for non-residential construction slipped by 1.3% on a decrease in plans for buildings in the utilities, transportation and medical sectors.
